The Reason
by Renthead621
Summary: Resubmission of an old story
1. Chapter 1

"Tina, where are my car keys? I'm gonna be late." Callie called out as she rushed around the apartment.

"I saw them in the kitchen by the phone." she yelled out as there was a knock at the door. "Can you get that? I'm getting dressed. It's probably Ray." she yelled from her room.

"Yeah, sure." she called out opening the door. "Um... hey." she said looking up surprised.

"Hey Cal. You look really good." the visitor smiled looking down at her.

"Roger, what are you doing here? It's been 7 years." she asked as tears filled her eyes. He looked good considering she thought he was dead.

"Allie hired a private investigator to find you. I um... I needed to see you." he said looking down at her shoving his hands into his jeans pockets.

"Why? After all these years, why?" she asked turning around to go into the apartment as he followed her.

"I've been thinking about you a lot lately. Um... I started performing again. We got a record deal." he said walking after her.

"That's great, really. Um... I have to go. I have a meeting with my editor in 15 minutes and I'm running late already." she said putting her pocketbook on her shoulder.

"Baby, I'm in LA now. At least until my record's done." he said looking down at her.

"What do you want from me Roger? 7 years have gone by since I heard you and Collins in your hospital bed talking about not wanting me to watch you die, but here you are. Alive and well and now you want me in your life." she yelled looking up at him.

"I'm sorry Cal. I made a huge mistake back then but chasing you away. I didn't know I'd be around this long. Trust me, if I had my way, I wouldn't have. I tried killing myself so many times after I got out of the hospital, but I'm here. I'm here and I miss you." he said looking down at her.

"Roger, I can't deal with this right now. I have a meeting. I um... I have to go." she told him rushing out of the apartment taking her keys with her.

"Cal wait." he called out starting to rush after her as Tina came out of the bedroom.

"Cal, what's going...Roger. Oh my God, you look great." Tina smiled rushing over to hug him.

"Thanks T. So do you. How's she doing?" he asked looking over at her.

"She's OK. She's getting her book published." she smiled looking up at him.

"You know that's not what I mean Tina." he said looking down at her.

"It's been 7 years Roger. That's all she's done is work on that damn novel. She hasn't done anything else with her life. She's barely gone left the apartment, just for work. She hasn't even talked about you. All she does is work and write." she said putting her hair up.

"So she didn't go on with her life. She didn't do anything in all these years." he said looking over at her.

"There's something you should know Roger." she said looking up at him.

"What is it Tina?" he asked looking down at her.

"Maybe you should sit down." she said leading him to the couch.

"Is she OK?" he asked sitting on the couch.

"Um... Roger, she wrote a book about you guys." she said looking over at him.

"She... she wrote a book about us?" he asked looking up at her.

"Yeah, but that's not it. I wish it was, but it's not." she said looking up at him.

"Baby, are you here?" a man called out poking his head into the apartment.

"Um, yeah Ray. Come on in. Ray, this is Callie's old boyfriend Roger. Roger, this is my boyfriend Ray." Tina said introducing them.

"Hey Roger. It's nice to finally meet you. Tina's told me a lot about you." he smiled holding his hand out to Roger.

"Hey. Um... hi, it's nice to meet you too." Roger said looking over at him.

"Babe, can I meet you at the club? I have to finish this up with Roger." she asked looking up at him.

"Of course. Take all the time you need. Callie's gonna meet us there after her meeting with her editor. It was really nice to meet you Roger. I hope you'll be around long enough for us to get to know each other." he said looking over at him.

"Yeah, me too. Thanks Ray. Um... I'm sorry to ruin your plans." Roger smiled looking up at him.

"No Roger, it's OK. I think you really need to hear this." she said looking up at him.

"I agree Roger. Don't worry about it. Bye Baby." he smiled leaning down to kiss Tina goodbye before leaving the apartment.

"Roger, why don't we sit down and talk. There's a lot we need to talk about." she said looking up at him.

"What are you not telling me Tina?" he asked sitting on the couch next to her.

"Um... after you told Cal about April and your HIV, she got tested and um... Damn, there's no easy way to say this. She's positive Roger. She didn't want you to know. She made me swear not to tell anyone. Especially you. I'm sorry." she said looking over at him.

"No, no, no, no, no. I swore my whole life that I would protect her. I got her sick. How? How could she not tell me about this?" he said looking down at her getting up from the couch to pace around.

"I'm sorry Roger. She didn't want you to know. I tried getting her to call you and tell you herself, but you know her. She wouldn't. She didn't want to push you over the edge. And then after you OD'd she was afraid you would try to kill yourself for hurting her. I'm so sorry Roger." she said looking up at him.

"I tried to. God knows I tried to. But Maureen, Collins and Mark got me past it. I'm clean and now I have a record deal. That's what I'm doing in LA. I came to record my album and see her. I wanted to make things right and make sure she was OK. How could I have hurt her?" he asked looking over at her.

"You didn't hurt her Roger. She's perfectly healthy and she's doing what she loves. She wrote a book. It's about you guys. You should really read it. It's great. It's just what she needed this past 7 years without you." she smiled looking up at him.

"I'm sure it is good. She always was good at writing." he smiled looking down at her.

"How are you still here? We thought you were dead. She's been mourning you ever since. 7 years and here you are. Still here. And you look good Roger. You really do. I love your hair." she smiled looking up at him.

"Yeah, I'm on this cocktail that's supposed to work miracles. I don't know if I believe that, but I'm willing to try anything. I don't want everyone to remember me as a strung out junkie. That's not who I am. It's not the man Callie loved." he said looking up at her.

"I understand. I'm really happy to hear that you're doing so well. Now all we have to do is get Callie to start living again. It seemed like when she came back to LA, she died along with you. She tried harder to get her book done, and nothing else. She's been obsessing over it for all these years. To get it perfect. We have to do something Roger." she said looking over at him.

"I want her back Tina. Allie hired a private investigator to find her. I wanna take care of her." he said looking over at her.

"I've been waiting so long to hear you say that. What do you need me to do?" she smiled looking up at him.

"Whatever you can. I need major help. You saw her. She doesn't want anything to do with me." he said looking down at her.

"Done. Why don't you come to the club with me? We can talk more there and figure out what we're gonna do. Callie's gonna be there too. Ray bought this club and we're helping him get it set up. The grand opening is next week." she offered looking up at him.

"Thanks Tina. Um... I still love her. I never stopped." he said looking down at her.

"I know. I figured you'd love her with your dying breath." she smiled reaching up to hug him.

"I will. I love her more than anything on the planet." he smiled looking down at her.

"She's your destiny." she smiled as they got up and left the apartment.

"She always will be." he smiled looking down at her.

"So, what have you been doing, other than getting better looking." she smiled looking up at him as they walked to the club.

"I kicked smack. It was a long road, but with Mark, Maureen and Collins' help I got through it. The only thing that got me through it was them bringing up Callie. I did it for her. I wanted to get her back after I was done, but I lost my nerve. I figured it was 6 months already and she hated me. Then I met someone. She was really great. Mimi would have really liked Callie. Mimi got me out of the loft and living again." he said looking down at the ground.

"What happened to her?" she asked looking up at him.

"She died of AIDS a couple of years ago. When she was sick, I used to tell her all about Callie and she made me promise to look for her eventually and at least tell her that I still love her. She said I would light up when I looked at her pictures and she could tell that Callie was truly my destiny by the way I talked about her. After she died, I wanted to start a band and do what Cal always knew I could. Get a record deal. I wrote a song for her and it got the attention of some record execs. I owe it all to her. Everything I owe to her." he smiled looking down at her.

"Good for you Roger. She always believed in your talent. We always hoped we'd find your CD in a record store or see you on a talk show promoting an album or something." she smiled looking up at him.

"I'm recording an album right now. I could have done it in New York, but when the guy mentioned LA to us, I jumped at the chance to do it. I wanted to see her and tell her that it was her believing in me that made it happen for me. I'm dedicating my album to her. I wrote this as soon as the guy called us and asked us to do it." he said taking a piece of paper out of his pocket and handing it to her.

_Dedicated to My Callie. My muse, my inspiration, my girl, my destiny. Thank you for believing in me. Your love can heal me._

"This is beautiful Roger. Callie told me you were an amazing songwriter, but... wow, this is really beautiful." she smiled looking down at the paper.

"So, she's gonna forgive me, right?" he asked looking down at her.

"If she doesn't plant the most amazing kiss anyone has ever seen on you, I will. She is one lucky girl to have someone who loves her this much." she smiled looking up at him.

"I've always loved her T. She's my reason in this world. I've known that since I was 12 years old." he said looking down at her.

"Don't worry, me and Ray will help you get her back. Ray owns this amazing club and I have some great ideas for you to woo her back." she smiled looking up at him.

"Do you think it'll work?" he asked looking down at her.

"If it doesn't work then there's no hope. Trust me. She's my best friend. I promise. She's gonna fall into your arms." she smiled up at him.

"Thanks T. I really appreciate that." he smiled as they entered the club. "Woh, this place is awesome." he smiled looking around the club.

"Thanks. Um... listen Roger, I was thinking. I wanted to get some bands in here and I'd love it if your band played. A big New York City band playing in our little whole in the wall would be great for business. Maybe for our grand opening?" he asked looking over at him.

"I'll have to talk to the guys, but I think it's a great idea." he smiled looking over at him.

"Great. OK now, what do you need me to do?" he asked looking down at Tina.

"How did you know we were planning something?" she asked looking up at him.

"Are you kidding Teen? All you've talked about since we met was how great Cal's boyfriend was and how you wish you could do something to get them back together." he smiled looking down at her.

"Yeah, I'm kinda sorta your biggest fan at this point." she laughed looking up at Roger as Ray put his arms around her.

"Why? After everything?" Roger asked looking down at her.

"Well Cal's my best friend. I hate seeing her like this. The only time she was ever really happy was when she got back from New York. Right up until that day you told her about your diagnosis." she said looking up at him.

"Yeah, that was a really bad period, wasn't it?" he asked sitting on the barstool.

"Yeah it was. We're gonna fix everything and then you and Cal can get married like you were supposed to." she smiled looking up at him.

"Roger, what's your prognosis?" Ray asked looking down at him.

"It's good. My viral load is at a good level and my t-cells are really high, so I'm doing really good. They got me on the new cocktail, so I have at least another 10 years, if not more. I feel good too." he smiled looking up at him.

"Good. I wouldn't want you to get her back if you were dying anyway. She couldn't handle that." he said looking over at him.

"I understand. I don't want that either. The last thing I want is for her to watch me die. But I love her man. I've always loved her. Since we were 12 years old." he smiled looking up at him.

"Damn man, almost 20 years. Now that's love." he smiled looking down at him.

"Yeah, it is. She's my life. I'm her man and she's my girl." he smiled looking up at him.

"So you're back in my life, to do what exactly?" Callie asked from the door.

"To get you back Cal. I love you. I always loved you." he said getting off of the stool and going to her.

"So why did you say those things to Collins in your hospital bed? Why did you go back to using when I left? Why didn't you come sooner to let me know you weren't dead?" she asked looking up at him with tears in her eyes.

"I was scared and stupid Cal. I wanted to come back to you as your Roger. Not what I became after I stopped using. I was a shut in. I was afraid of leaving the loft. Then I met someone, and she got me out of the loft and made me start living again. From then on, I've been trying to become your Roger again. When she died, I started a band and I wanted to get a record deal. So you'd be proud of me. And I did it Baby. I got a record deal and it's all because of you. I wrote a song for you and it got the attention of some really important people and they offered me a deal. Um... I'm dedicating my album to you." he told her taking the piece of paper out of his back pocket for her to read.

"Um... um Roger, this is...um, but his doesn't prove anything to me Roger. They're just words on a page." she told him handing the piece of paper back to him.

"It's for you Cal. Everything is for you. I'm just sorry it took me so long to get back to you. The real me. Not the me I turned into back then." he said reaching out for her shoulders as he bent down to face her.

"Um... I don't know what you want from me Roger." she said as tears fell from her eyes.

"Say you'll marry me Baby. Say you want to be with me too." he told her quietly holding back his own tears.

"Roger, I'm… I'm positive." she cried looking up at him.

"I know Baby. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I still want to marry you though. I want us to take care of each other like we used to." he said looking down at her.

"I don't know if it can be like it used to be. You wanted me out of your life back then sowhat changed?" she asked reaching up to wipe the tears from her face.

"Everything changed Baby. I changed. We're each other's destiny Cal. That's the only thing that hasn't changed." he told her looking into her blue eyes.

"I don't know Roger. I need to think about it." she said looking up at him.

"What is there to think about Cal? You've always only loved Roger. If you didn't believe that you two still had a chance, why didn't you start dating?" Tina asked walking over to them.

"In case you forgot Tina, I'm HIV positive. Dating is really complicated." she said looking over at her.

"I love you Cal. I'm willing to do whatever I have to do to prove it to you for as long as it takes until you trust me again." he said looking down at her.

"I don't know if I can ever trust you again Roger." she said looking up at him.

"Callie, give him a chance." Ray said looking down at her.

"No, it's OK. I understand. A lot's happened and I probably don't deserve another chance. But we've known each other our whole lives Cal. Can we at least try? Please?" he asked looking down at her.

"I don't know Roger. I need time to think about it." she said looking up at him as tears streamed down her face.

"OK. I understand Baby. Take as much time as you need. I'm not going anywhere. You're my destiny. I'm willing to wait as long as you need me to." he said looking down at her.

"I need to go home. I gotta get out of here. I need space." she told him wiping her eyes.

"OK Cal. Whatever you need. I love you Callie. Just think about that, OK?" he said looking down at her as she turned around and left the club.

"We're sorry Roger. But we knew it wasn't gonna be easy." Tina said looking up at him.

"That's OK. I meant what I said. I'm willing to wait as long as she needs to. She's my destiny and I'm hers. I've believed that since I was 16 years old." he smiled looking down at her.

"OK, now the plans get put in to motion." Ray said looking down at Tina.

"I know the first thing I'm gonna do." he said going to the bar to get the phone.

"The phone book is under the bar. The best florist is the one right down the block." Ray smiled looking down at Tina.

"I'm gonna go down there and order them personally. And I'm gonna write a note too." he smiled going for the door.

"Roger, what are you gonna write?" Tina asked looking over at him.

"Something that'll knock her off her feet." she smiled looking down at her before leaving the club to go to the florist.

"Do you think it'll work?" Ray asked looking down at her.

"It's a start." she smiled looking up at him.

"He seems to really love her." he smiled wrapping his arms around her.

"He does Baby. Trust me. I saw them 7 years ago. I also saw how heartbroken she was when she came back to LA and told me that she couldn't ever go back to New York again. She's been wanting him to come after her ever since." she said looking up at him.

"Well he's here now." he smiled leaning down to kiss her head.

"And now she's playing hard to get." she said looking up at him.

"She's one stubborn lady, isn't she?" he asked looking down at her.

"He's just as stubborn as she is. Probably more so." she smiled looking up at him.

"I hope so. He's gonna have to be." he smiled looking down at her.


	2. Chapter 2

"No. Take them back." Callie told the delivery man as she opened the door.

"I can't ma'am. The guy who sent them told me to make sure I give these to you. He wants you to read the card." he said leaning into the apartment to put them on the table.

"But I don't want them." she argued looking up at him.

"Sorry. I was just told to deliver them and now I've done that. Have a nice day." he said before leaving.

"Why does he have to do this to me?" she asked before reaching into the bouquet for the card. She opened it and started reading it.

_Callista, I love you. You are my destiny. You always were and you always will be. I'll never give up. Love forever, Roger._

"I don't believe him." she called out throwing the card in the garbage before walking away from the flowers.

"Cal, are you home?" Tina called out seeing the flowers. "These are beautiful. Who are they from?" she asked entering the apartment.

"You know damn well who they're from. Why are you encouraging him? I was fine with living the rest of my life without him. Now he's back and just expects to pick up where we left off. As if the last 7 years never happened. He wants me to ignore his conversation with Collins when he was in the hospital for a heroin overdose and all those times he ran off and tried to kill the man I love and just marry him. Just like that." she asked looking over at her with her hands on her hips.

"Honey, he still loves you. He never stopped." she said looking over at her.

"And I never stopped loving him, but that doesn't mean that this is a good idea. None of this is a good idea. Maybe it was at one time, but not anymore." she said going into her bedroom.

"Why isn't it a good idea Cal? You love him and he loves you? That's why people get together." she asked following her.

"We're positive T. Or did you forget that little tidbit of info? Everything is complicated now." she yelled looking over at her.

"Yet, you're both still here and you're still in love with each other. Oh yeah, sounds really complicated to me." she yelled back with her hands on her hips.

"Tina, you don't know. We had so many plans for our life. So many things we wanted to do. Now a lot of it can't happen because of our HIV." she said looking over at her.

"What can't happen? What are you talking about Cal?" Tina asked sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Kids, growing old together. None of that can happen now." she said looking down at her.

"But you can still get married and love each other to as close to forever as you can get." she said looking up at her.

"Why did he have to come back? Why did he have to come back to me? After all these years?" she asked looking down at her.

"That's easy sweetie. He wanted to make sure it was your Roger who was coming back to you. Not that other guy." she smiled getting up to go to her.

"That other guy tried to kill my Roger. He tried everything he could and he chased me away so I didn't have to witness it and now he's back. What did he expect me to do? Just fall into his arms?" she asked as tears began falling from her eyes.

"A love like yours doesn't go away after 7 years. You're destined to be together. You've known that since you were 16 years old." she smiled wrapping her arms around her for comfort.

"What am I gonna do?" she asked looking up at her.

"Well, he's playing the club on opening night, so if you want to go. Just to check him out. You know you're always on the VIP list." she smiled looking down at her.

"I just need to think about things. My feelings for him and what I want to do about them." she said looking up at her.

"It's OK sweetie. Like he said, he's willing to wait as long as you need him to. But those are beautiful flowers." she smiled looking down at her.

"He sent me a note too. I put it in the garbage." she said looking over at her.

"What did it say?" she asked looking down at her.

"Nothing much. He's the same old Roger I fell in love with and wanted to spend the rest of my life with." she said wiping her eyes.

"Do you want me to go get it?" she asked looking down at her.

"Yeah, can you?" Callie smiled looking up at her.

"Sure sweetie." Tina smiled before going into the living room to get the note.

_One Week Later_

"Roger, let's go. You go on in an hour." Tina called out as she paced around backstage.

"I'm sorry. I'm so nervous." he said coming out of the dressing room. He had a long sleeve red and black button down shirt and light blue jeans on.

"Why are you nervous? You've performed a million times. You're gonna be great." she smiled looking up at him as she unbuttoned his shirt to his naval. "There. Now that's hot." she smiled looking up at him.

"I haven't performed in front of Callie in a really long time." he said looking down at her.

"Roger, she's the first person you performed in front of. Don't worry about it. It'll be fine. I promise." she laughed looking up at him.

"Oh, I almost forget. I got something for Callie today. I hope she like it." he smiled taking a box out of his jeans pocket. It was small and square.

As she opened the box, he eyes filled with tears. "Roger, this is... this is beautiful. She is gonna love it." she smiled looking down at the small ring.

"I bought it with my advance from the record company." he smiled looking down at her.

"This is great Roger." she smiled looking up at him.

"I know she's not ready to get married yet, but I wanna be ready when she is. She deserves the best." he smiled reaching down to take the ring box and put it back in his pocket.

"Roger, when she hears that song, she's gonna take you back. I just know it." she smiled looking up at him.

"You really think so?" he asked looking down at her.

"It's a beautiful song Roger. And it's for her. How can she resist?" she asked looking up at him.

"Thanks for everything Tina. I never could have done anything this week without you behind me." he smiled looking down at her.

"Just don't hurt her, OK Roger. She's my best friend." she smiled wiping her eyes. Careful not to smudge her makeup.

"I won't Tina, I swear. I love her." he smiled taking her hands.

"I know Roger, she loves you too." she smiled leaning in to hug him. "Now, come on. Ray's probably having an anxiety attack looking for his headliner."

"I mean it T. Thanks." he smiled looking down at her.

"Don't mention it Roger. I just want to see her happy and I know you always made her happy." she smiled looking up at him.

"OK. Um... we better get out front. Ray's waiting for me." he asked looking down at her.

"OK Roger. Let's go." she smiled looking up at him as they left to go out front.

"Roger, thank God. I was afraid you chickened out." Ray called out rushing over to him.

"Sorry man. There was something I had to take care of." he smiled looking down at Tina.

"Is Callie here yet?" Tina asked looking up at Ray.

"Yeah, she snuck up to the balcony. I told her when the show starts she should stand up front with us, but she said she couldn't. Sorry Rog. I tried." Ray said looking up at him.

"It's cool man. I'm not discouraged. I can't wait to play her my song." he smiled looking down at Tina.

"It's a great song Roger. I told you before. You're are sure to get her attention when you start singing it to her." Tina smiled looking up at him.

"I hope you're right. It's the best song I've ever written." he smiled looking down at her.

"I know Roger. Just get ready to go on and I'll handle Callie. It'll be fine." she smiled leaning up to hug him before going up to the balcony to talk to Callie.

"Hey LA. How you doin' tonight?" Roger asked to a packed house. The crowd cheered as Callie stood on the balcony watching him. She leaned on the railing, her heart pounding in her chest. He played his set and she watched, proud of his accomplishment. By the end of the set, he looked ready to slow things down and stared up at her as if she was the only person in the room. "OK, this song I wrote about a year ago. It's been 14 years in the making, but it was worth it. I wrote this song for my girl Callie. I love you Baby." he smiled looking up at her as tears rose to her eyes. "It's called The Reason." he smiled looking down at his guitar as he started the song.

"Sweetie, why don't you go down front? I'm sure he would love it if you were there." she smiled looking over at her.

"He wrote me a song." she said quietly watching him intently.

"Yeah sweetie, he did." she smiled putting her arm around her. Callie stared down at Roger as she made her way down towards the stage. Standing in the front row as he performed just for her.

_I'm not a perfect person  
There's many things I wish I didn't do  
But I continue learning  
I never meant to do those things to you  
And so I have to say before I go  
That I just want you to know_

I've found out a reason for me  
To change who I used to be  
A reason to start over new  
and the reason is you

I'm sorry that I hurt you  
It's something I must live with everyday  
And all the pain I put you through  
I wish that I could take it all away  
And be the one who catches all your tears  
Thats why i need you to hear

I've found out a reason for me  
To change who I used to be  
A reason to start over new  
and the reason is You

and the reason is You 

_and the reason is You_

_and the reason is You_

I'm not a perfect person  
I never meant to do those things to you  
And so I have to say before I go  
That I just want you to know

I've found out a reason for me  
To change who I used to be  
A reason to start over new  
and the reason is you

I've found a reason to show  
A side of me you didn't know  
A reason for all that I do  
And the reason is you 

"That was beautiful sweetie." Tina smiled looking over at her.

"Oh my God." she smiled wiping the tears that had fallen from her eyes.

"Sweetie, are you OK?" Ray asked looking down at her.

"Um... yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. Excuse me." she said looking up at him before rushing off towards the front door.

"We're gonna take a break. We'll be back in 30." Roger announced taking his guitar off and going after her.

"Roger, now's your chance." Tina said looking up at him as he stepped off the stage.

"Thanks T." he smiled chasing after her. "Cal wait." he called out as he exited the club.

"Why did you do that? Why did you have to come back?" she cried running away from him.

"I love you Callie. That's why I came back. I wrote that song for you and I wanted you to hear it." he said chasing after her.

"Roger, what do you expect from me? That I would just fall into your arms after all this time?" she asked looking up at him.

"No. But I know you still love me." he said standing in front of her.

"Love's not enough Roger. I wish it was, but it's not." she cried looking up at him.

"Why can't it be? It always was before." he asked looking down at her.

"No it wasn't. Otherwise, we wouldn't be standing here like this tonight after 7 years of being apart." she told him wiping her eyes.

"You left me Cal." he said looking down at her.

"After I heard you ask Collins to help you break up with me. What was I supposed to do? Wait for you to chase me away?" she yelled looking up at him.

"Why didn't you tell me you were positive Cal?" he asked looking down at her.

"Because you almost killed yourself at the thought of maybe infecting me. I was scared that if you found out that you actually had, you would have succeeded. I love you Roger. I was trying to protect you." she yelled looking up at him.

"It was my job to protect you Baby and I blew it. In so many ways, I blew it. But I wanna make it up to you." he said looking down at her.

"How?" she asked looking up at him.

"Get married like we were supposed to. Spend the rest of our lives together. Taking care of each other." he said walking towards her.

"How are we gonna do that Roger? We're HIV positive. It's not that easy." she said looking up at him.

"Baby, I learned a long time ago that no one is guaranteed tomorrow. All we have is right now." he said looking down at her.

"And right now, you wanna get married?" she asked looking up at him.

"Not so different from back then, huh?" he smiled looking down at her.

"I guess not." she smiled looking up at him.

"I love you Callie. That hasn't changed either." he said taking her by her shoulders.

"I miss you so much Roger." she told him starting to cry again.

"I know Cal. I missed you too. Not a day went by when I didn't think about you. Wonder if you were OK. If you were moving on." he said reaching out to hold her.

"How could I move on? I still loved you. You were still my destiny." she smiled looking up at him through her tears.

"And you were still mine." he smiled leaning down to kiss her.

"Now what?" she asked looking up at him.

"Now we move on. Together this time." he whispered bringing his hand up to her face to caress it.

"We get married." she smiled looking into his green eyes.

"I have something for you Cal." he smiled reaching into his jeans pocket for the ring he bought her.

"This is beautiful Roger. Where did you get this?" she asked looking up at him.

"I got an advance from the record company. I knew I had to have a ring to show you I was serious about this. I want to be with you for the rest of our lives Cal." he smiled taking the ring out of the box before placing it on her finger.

"You are my life Roger. You always were." she smiled looking down at her hand before leaning up to kiss him. As they held each other, Tina and Ray looked on from the doorway of the club.

"What do you think they're talking about?" Ray asked looking down at her.

"Callie's getting married." she smiled wiping the tears of joy from her face.

"It worked?" he smiled wrapping his arms around him.

"Yeah Baby, it worked." she smiled looking up at him.


	3. Chapter 3

"Baby, are you sure you want to go back to New York? We can stay in LA if you want to. The guys don't mind moving to LA." Roger asked looking over as they lay in Callie's bed.

"No Roger, I'm ready to go home. I miss everyone." Callie said looking over at him.

"We can make a new home here Baby. We can start fresh. There's too many memories in New York." he said looking over at her.

"But New York has always been our home Roger. After we left Scarsdale, we went to the loft and made a home for ourselves. We were 17 Roger and we made something of ourselves. And we were happy. I mean really happy. Except for the last time I was there." she said looking over at him.

"That's why I want to stay here in LA. I was such a jerk back then. That's not who I am." he said wrapping his arms around her.

"You weren't a jerk. You were going through a rough time. Things were different back then. How were you supposed to know that you weren't dying?" she said looking up at him.

"I didn't. You have to believe that, I didn't know that I was still gonna be around." he said looking down at her.

"I do Roger. I believe you. Now, are we gonna keep arguing about this or are you gonna finally realize that this is a fight you're not gonna win?" she asked smiling up at him.

"OK Baby. I'm sorry. You're right. New York will always be our home." he smiled leaning down to kiss her.

"Thank you. I love you Roger." she smiled looking up at him.

"I love you too Cal. More than anything." he smiled holding her tight.

"I know. I've always known." she smiled looking up at him before rolling over on top of him.

"So you're finally leaving me, huh?" Tina smiled as they stood in the terminal at the airport.

"Thank you for everything T. You're my best friend, you know? You always will be." she smiled looking over at her.

"No way. You're my best friend. You sat up with me all those nights listening to me talk about my sucky love life. Never once bitching about your own. You knew you and Roger were meant to be and you never gave up on that. I envied you so much for that. Knowing who you're were supposed to end up with." she smiled looking over at her holding back tears.

"Thanks for helping me past all of that. I don't know if I ever said that." she said looking over at her.

"You did. But your welcome." she smiled hugging her.

"Rog, take good care of her. She's a good girl." Ray smiled looking over at Roger.

"We've been taking care of each other our whole lives man. Trust me. She's in good hands." he smiled shaking Ray's hand.

"As long as you know that, we won't have a problem." Ray laughed hugging him.

"Ray, are you threatening my fiance?" Callie laughed looking up at Ray.

"Nah, just making sure he takes care of you." he smiled looking down at her.

"We'll take care of each other." she smiled reaching up to hug him.

"I know you will." he smiled hugging her tight.

"Call us when you guys get home, OK? So we know you made it OK." Tina smiled wiping her eyes.

"We will. And we'll see you next month for the wedding, right?" Callie asked looking over at her.

"Of course you will. I wouldn't miss it." she smiled looking over at them.

"Baby, we better get going. They're calling our flight." Roger said looking down at her.

"OK, I'm coming. Bye." she smiled waving at them.

"Bye sweetie." Tina smiled as they went to their plane. "She's gonna be OK, right?" she asked looking up at Ray.

"Yeah Babe. I have a feeling she's gonna be perfect." he answered looking down at her.

"She better be. She's been waiting for this for a very long time." she said looking up at him.

"I know. But she's finally getting her happily ever after." he smiled holding her close.

"I know. She deserves it." she smiled looking up at him.

"They both do." he smiled kissing her head before they turned and left the airport.

"I can't wait to get home. I'm so exhausted." she complained looking up at him as they got off the plane.

"I hope not too exhausted." he smiled before looking out into the crowd. When she looked up, all she saw was Collins running to her.

"Oh my God. What the hell?" she squealed as he leaned down to pick her up into his arms.

"Babygirl, you're home." he called out holding her tight.

"Yeah honey, I'm home. Now put me down. Let me get a look at you, you big black freak." she laughed leaning back to look at him.

"I'm just excited to have you home finally." he smiled pulling back to look at her still holding her in his arms.

"How do you manage to get better looking after all these years?" she smiled leaning in to kiss him.

"I wanted to look good for when my Babygirl got home. How'd I do?" he laughed putting her down.

"Fabulous honey. Absolutely fabulous." she laughed looking up at him as Roger looked on happily.

"Thanks man. You escorted my girl home, you get the bags. We'll meet you outside." Collins laughed patting Roger on the shoulder.

"Ahem, not so fast sweetheart. Roger called dibs first." she laughed flashing her engagement ring at him.

"Holy toledo. Man, you picked this out all by yourself? This is amazing." he smiled taking her hand.

"Yeah, so she's mine. Now, if you don't mind, our bags." Roger joked looking up at him as Callie buried her face in Collins chest to hide her laughter.

"You are so lucky you brought my Babygirl home. Otherwise, we'd be throwing down." Collins joked looking over at him.

"Collins honey, you forget, Roger can take you. Remember that time he hit you?" she laughed looking up at him.

"It was a lucky punch." Collins whined looking down at her.

"That you told him to throw to show him how fast you were." she laughed looking up at him.

"Yeah dude, turns out. I was faster." Roger laughed putting his arm around Callie.

"My guys. It's so great to be home." she smiled looking up at them.

"It's great to have you home Babygirl." Collins smiled leaning down to kiss her head.

"So, tell me everything I missed. Roger wouldn't tell me anything." she smiled looking up at Collins as they went to the baggage claim area.

"Well, Mark and Maureen broke up and she's been dating this woman for quite a while. It's going on about 6 years. Her name is Joanne. She's really great. You're gonna love her." Collins smiled looking down at her.

"Wait a minute, hang on. Our Maureen is a lesbian? Boy, I didn't see that coming." she said looking up at him as Roger and Collins exchanged looks. "What? What did I miss?" she asked looking up at them.

"Nothing Babygirl. I'll tell you the rest when we get home." Collins said looking down at her.

"No, tell me now." she said looking up at him.

"Babygirl, it really should wait until we're home." he said looking down at her.

"You're starting to worry me now. What is it?" she asked concerned.

"Um... maybe we should sit down." he said looking down at her.

"What happened? Is everyone else OK?" she asked worried.

"Yeah, in a way." he said looking down at her as he led her to the seats.

"What does that mean?" she asked looking up at Roger dreading what Collins was about to tell her.

"Babygirl, I'm positive." he said looking down at her.

"No. Not you too." she said looking up at him as tears filled her eyes.

"I'm gay Babygirl. There was always a chance." he said looking down at her.

"I'm so sorry honey. Are you OK? I mean, are you sick?" she asked looking up at him.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm healthy as a horse." he smiled looking down at her.

"Collins, I have something I have to tell you too." she said taking his hands into hers.

"What is it Babygirl?" he asked looking down into her beautiful blue eyes. He could never resist those eyes. She made him melt every time he looked into them from the time they were 12 years old.

"Um... sweetie I'm um... I'm positive too." she told him as tears fell from her eyes.

"Roger?" he asked looking up at Roger.

"I found out when I got to LA and I didn't think it was news you should hear on the phone." he said looking down at him.

"I'm OK though honey, I swear. I'm healthy and I'm taking care of myself. I've been positive 7 years and I'm still here." she smiled at him through her tears.

"You don't deserve this Babygirl." he said looking over at her.

"None of us do. But at least it's teaching us how short life could be. We have to make the best of the time we have." she cried as he pulled her to him.

"We will Babygirl. We'll get you and this boy married and we'll all take care of each other. Just like we used to." he smiled leaning over to kiss her cheek.

"Yeah honey. Just like we used to." she smiled looking into his kind dark brown eyes.

"Um... guys. We gotta get going. Everyone's expecting us." Roger told them clearing his throat trying to regain his composure.

"Good idea Baby. I can't wait to see everyone." she smiled looking up at him as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

"Come on Baby. Let's go home." he smiled wrapping his arms around her as she got up.

"OK Baby. Let's go." she smiled leaning up to kiss him.

"A little higher." Allison called out as Mark and Benny were putting up the welcome home sign they made for Roger and Callie.

"If we go any higher Baby, I'm gonna need a ladder." Benny complained standing on his tippy toes.

"So stand on the window seat like Mark." she suggested looking over at him.

"He would never do that. He's afraid of heights." Mark laughed looking over at her.

"Screw off Cohen. The window is open. I could totally fall out." he argued looking up at him.

"Yeah, onto the fire escape. Come on, you wuss." Mark yelled at him, through his laughter.

"Watch your mouth Benny. I don't need you corrupting our unborn child. It's bad enough when Roger gets home, I'm gonna have to carry soap everywhere I go." she laughed caressing her 6 months pregnant belly.

"I'm sorry Baby." he called out dropping his end of the sign rushing over to talk to Allison's belly.

"Benny man. They're gonna be home any minute. We gotta get this done." Mark yelled looking over at him.

"Screw it man. We'll just yell Welcome Home. It's the same thing. It's not gonna matter anyway. They're gonna be all over each other all the time anyway, just like they used to." he laughed with his arm around Allison caressing her belly.

"Yeah sure. It's not like it's a big deal or anything. Roger brings Callie home all the time." he complained dropping the sign and stepping off of the window seat.

"Fine, but I'm only going as high as I can reach from the floor." he insisted looking over at him.

"Fine, but we gotta hang this up." he said looking over at him.

"OK, I'm coming." Benny laughed walking over to him to hang the sign. Just as they were about to tape the sign, the door opened.

"Callie." Allison called out rushing to her.

"Oh my God Allie. What did Benny do to you?" she laughed looking down at her belly.

"He finally knocked me up." she laughed hugging her.

"Congratulations. Roger told me you two finally got married, but he somehow left this part out." she smiled looking up at him.

"Well, I thought you'd want to hear it from Allie." he smiled leaning down to kiss Allison on the cheek. "Hey Allie. Hey little guy." he smiled reaching down to rub her belly.

"Touch my belly, I'll kick your ass Davis." she told him sternly.

"Woah, a little sick of people feeling you up, huh?" he laughed looking down at her.

"You have no idea. Hey Rog." Benny laughed rushing over to them dropping the sign. "Hey Cal." he smiled wrapping his arms around her waist to pick her up.

"Hi Benny." she laughed hugging him as he held her tight.

"We missed you so much girl. You look great. LA agrees with you." he smiled looking over at her before putting her down.

"Yeah well. It's LA. Everybody looks good in LA. It's the sun." she laughed looking up at him.

"Hi Cal." Mark smiled standing back a little.

"Hey Marky. Come here. I missed you so much." she smiled walking over to hug him.

"I missed you too Cal. You really do look great." he smiled kissing her head.

"Thanks sweetie. You look exactly the same. Don't you ever age?" she asked looking up at him.

"Eventually, but thankfully not yet." he smiled looking up at Roger, seeing him beaming with joy.

"Where's Maureen?" she asked looking over at him.

"Her and her girlfriend will be over later. You heard we broke up, right?" he asked looking down at her.

"Yeah, I'm so sorry sweetie. But you know, you're a great guy. Any woman who's with you is gonna be a lucky woman." she smiled looking over at him.

"I do have a girlfriend, you know?" he laughed looking over at her.

"Oh? When did this happen?" Roger asked looking over at him.

"About a month ago. She's a really great girl. Her name is Serena and she's a dancer." he smiled looking over at him.

"Oh? When are we gonna meet this Serena?" Callie asked looking over at him.

"Later. Don't worry, she knows that you're the princess." he laughed looking over at her.

"As long as she knows the deal." she laughed looking over at him.

"Don't worry sweetie, she knows." he smiled lifting his hand to caress her face. "You look so great Cal. It's great to finally have you home." he said bringing her to him again.

"It's great to finally be home. It's been a long time." she smiled kissing his cheek.

"So guys, um... there's something we need to tell everyone." Roger said looking over at them.

"What is it Roger?" Allison asked looking over at them.

"Why don't we all sit down?" Callie said with her arm still around Mark.

"You're positive, aren't you?" he asked looking down at her.

"Mark, let me explain." Callie said quietly looking up at him.

"No, you're positive and you've been positive all these years, haven't you?" he asked stepping back from her.

"Mark. Please. Let us explain, OK?" Roger said going over to Callie.

"Explain what? We lost Mimi and Angel to this and now we get to add Callie to the list of people we're gonna lose in the future. Does that about cover it?" he asked looking up at him.

"I'm sorry Mark. I'm so sorry." Callie told him quietly as Benny put his arms around Allison.

"Sorry for what? It's not your fault." he said looking up at Roger.

"Don't you think I feel enough like shit about it Mark? I got her sick, after I swore to protect her." Roger yelled looking down at him.

"How bad did you feel years ago when you fucked everything up? You screwed up and now Callie has to pay for it." he yelled back walking towards him.

"Mark, calm down. It's not Roger's fault. It just happened." Callie said walking towards Mark.

"How is this not his fault? Before April and the fucking smack, everything was fine. You and Roger had a future. Now look at everything. It's all a mess. You're all positive and there's nothing we can do about it." he yelled looking over at her.

"Mark, I understand that you're angry. But you have no reason to be angry with Roger. He didn't know back then. We didn't know he had it when we were together and he didn't know I had it when he OD'd and I left the last time." she said looking up at him.

"But Cal. Not you. You're not supposed to have this. This was not supposed to touch you. You're supposed to be the future of this family." he said looking down at her.

"I am Mark. Don't you see? Just because I'm positive, it doesn't mean that I don't have a future. I have friends who love me more than anyone ever loved me. With the exception of Roger of course. You know he would never hurt me intentionally. It just happened. There is nothing we could do to change it. All we can do is live right now." she said looking over at him.

"But Cal..." he started looking down at her.

"But nothing Mark. Listen, everything is gonna be OK. I promise." she said wrapping his arms around him to hold him close.

"I'm sorry Mark. I just found out myself." Roger cried looking over at him.

"I'm sorry Rog. I know you would never hurt Cal on purpose. But another one of us with HIV?" Mark asked looking up at him.

"I know man. I'm so sorry." Roger said walking over to hug him.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you. You didn't deserve it. I mean, it's Cal." he said looking up at him.

"I know. I understand. I wished I could yell at myself when I found out." he said looking over at him as he wiped his eyes.

"What's your prognosis?" Allie asked quietly looking over at her.

"It's good, Al. I'm on really good meds. I'm gonna be OK." she said walking over to her.

"I'm sorry. This is just really hard. You two don't deserve this." she said looking over at her.

"Allie, we're gonna be fine. I promise." she said looking over at her.

"I know sweetie. I'm sorry. It's just... you're my best friend Cal. I don't want to lose you to this right after I found you again." he said looking over at her.

"You're my best friend too. I missed you so much." she said hugging her.

"You have no idea what a hell it has been without you here." she said looking over at her.

"I have a pretty good idea." she smiled looking over at her.

"What are you gonna tell Maureen?" Allison asked wiping her eyes.

"I have to tell her. As much as I would like to keep this from her, I can't." she said looking over at her.

"I think it's best if you tell her in private. You know how close you and Maureen always were. You guys have always been like sisters." she said looking over at her.

"I think you might be right. Will you come with me to tell her?" she asked as tears rose to her eyes.

"Of course sweetie. I'll do anything for you. You know that." she smiled hugging her again.

"Thanks for finding me." she said looking over at her.

"No problem sweetie. Me and Benny had been trying to have a baby and I needed you in my child's life." she said looking over at her.

"I'm glad I'm here." she smiled looking up at her.

"Me too. Now we can get you the best medical care money can buy. I don't want my child not to know his Godmother." she smiled looking over at her.

"Thanks Allie. That means a lot to me." she smiled looking over at her.

"She's home man." Benny smiled looking up at Roger.

"Yep. My girl's home." he smiled watching Allison and Callie talk. Callie was feeling Allison's belly and Allison was laughing.


	4. Chapter 4

"This is so amazing. I can't believe you're finally home and you and Roger are getting married." Maureen smiled leaning over to hug Callie again as they all sat in the living room.

"It's great to be home Maureen. I missed you too." Callie laughed looking over at her.

"OK, so now we have to plan the wedding. It's gonna be the wedding of he century." she smiled looking over at her.

"Down girl. Roger and I just want something simple." she laughed looking over at her.

"Who says? I want something big and elaborate." Roger smiled leaning over the couch to kiss Callie.

"Since when do you want a big wedding?" she asked looking up at him.

"Since forever. I wanted the day we got married to be the most special day anyone has ever seen." he smiled looking down at her.

"I missed this so much. Watching you two together. This is gonna be amazing." Maureen smiled looking over at her.

"I missed it too." Callie smiled looking over at her. "Um... Maureen, there's something I need to talk to you about. In um... in private." she said looking up at Roger.

"You guys aren't pregnant already, are you? I mean, if you are that's even more amazing. I always wanted to see what your kids would look like. I mean, with Roger's green eyes and your little nose..." she started as Callie interrupted her.

"No we're not pregnant. Um... can we just talk to you?" Callie said looking over at Allison as they got up from the couch and went into hers and Roger's room.

"You're really scaring me now." Maureen said looking over at her.

"Sit down sweetie." Callie said standing next to the bed.

"Um... OK. This sounds serious." she said looking over at her.

"Um... Maureen. I'm um... I'm HIV positive. I found out before the last time I was here. I didn't want to tell him because I was afraid he was gonna try to kill himself for hurting me." she said as Maureen looked up at her in disbelief.

"No, you um... you're not. You um... you can't be. You're healthy." she said getting up as tears rose to her eyes.

"I am healthy sweetie. I've been on good meds for a long time and everything is fine. I'm gonna be OK." she said going over to her.

"But how? How did this happen?" she asked looking over at her as tears fell from her eyes.

"When me and Roger were together after he was with April. The time I came for his birthday. But I'm OK sweetie. It's not Roger's fault. He didn't know. If he did know, you know he would never have hurt me on purpose. That much you have to know." Callie said walking after her as she paced the bedroom.

"How could he have let this happen? How could he have let you get infected?" she asked looking over at her.

"It's not his fault Maureen. It just happened. You can't blame him for something he didn't know about at the time. Sweetie, you don't believe that he would ever hurt me intentionally." she said looking over at her.

"I can't believe this. We just got you back and now we could lose you like we lost Angel and Mimi." she cried looking over at her.

"Honey, I'm gonna be OK. I'm healthy. You're not gonna lose me any time soon. I promise." she said looking over at her.

"How can you promise that? You can't." she yelled looking over at her.

"Sweetie, she's home. Roger brought her home and they're gonna get married. She's gonna be OK no matter what happens because she's home with us now. We'll take care of her. We'll take care of both of them." Allison said going over to her.

"Allie, how could we be losing her? We just got her back." Maureen asked looking over at Allison.

"We are not losing her Maureen. We're gonna do everything we can do to make sure she and Roger have a long healthy life together. Mark my words. I will not let them die. Not without a fight." Allison told her wiping her eyes.

"Maureen, I'm gonna be OK. I'm home where I belong and I don't intend to leave my best friends and the man I love anytime soon." Callie said standing next to them.

"Do you promise?" she said looking over at her.

"Maureen honey, I didn't come home to die. I came home to start living again. I'm not going anywhere yet." she smiled looking over at her.

"OK." Maureen smiled faintly before hugging Callie again.

"Why don't we go back outside? Roger's probably hiding under a table and poor Collins and Mark are probably crying from listening to you yell." Allison smiled looking over at them.

"Oh my God, Roger. I have to make sure he knows I'm not mad at him." Maureen said looking over at Callie.

"I know already Maureen." Roger told her standing in the doorway after opening the door. He was wiping his eyes.

"Roger honey, I'm so sorry." Maureen called out rushing to him.

"Hey, it's not the end Maureen. This is just the beginning. We have Cal back finally and I don't plan on letting her go any time soon." he told her taking her into his arms and holding her tight.

"I know sweetie. We're gonna fight to keep you both alive. I promise." she said hugging him.

"I know." he smiled kissing her head as Callie and Allison smiled watching them.

"OK Maureen. You can get off my man now. I thought you turned lesbian." Callie laughed teasing them.

"Bi. I still think Roger's hot." Maureen laughed wiping her eyes.

"Well he is. But he's my man, so back off woman." Callie laughed walking over to them.

"You actually think Roger's hot?" Allison laughed looking up at Roger.

"What? I am hot." Roger smiled looking down at her.

"I'm not seeing it." Allison teased as Callie and Roger wrapped their arms around one another.

"That's because you like those short, dark and obnoxious guys." Roger laughed looking down at her.

"Hey. I am not short." Benny called out as everyone laughed.

"Yes you are. And you're dark and obnoxious too." Allison yelled as they all went into the living room.

"Who's obnoxious?" a young woman asked entering the loft.

"Benny. Hey Baby. There's a couple of people I'd like you to meet." Mark smiled getting up from the couch to greet her.

"Callie and Roger. Mark's been telling me all about you since we met. It is so great to finally meet you." she smiled looking over at them. She was outgoing and a lot different from Mark. She had pretty long dark hair and had beautiful brown eyes.

"It's nice to meet you too Serena." Callie smiled looking over at her.

"Mark was right. You two do make a beautiful couple." she smiled looking over at her.

"Well we've known each other since we were 3. And you know what they say. Once you're with someone long enough, you start to look alike." Callie laughed looking up at Roger.

"Isn't that what they say about pets?" Roger asked looking down at her confused.

"Pets, boyfriends. Same difference." she laughed as he wrapped his arms around her and held her tight.

"You were right Mark. They are cute together." Serena smiled looking over at him.

"Yeah, that's gonna get old really quick." Maureen laughed looking over at her.

"I like it. I think it's romantic." Serena smiled as she watched Callie and Roger laughing together.

"So you really want a big elaborate wedding?" Callie asked looking up at Roger as they lay in bed together. She was playing with his chest hair and he was caressing her back looking down at her.

"Mhm. I've been dreaming about you in a long beautiful wedding gown coming down the aisle towards me since we were 15." he smiled looking down at her.

"Really? How come I never knew that?" she asked smiling up at him.

"Because it's embarrassing for a teenage boy to be thinking about his wedding. That's a girl thing." he smiled shifting to sit up more. His chest muscles flexed as he did this.

"Roger, you never cared what anyone thought of you." she said sitting up with him taking the sheet with her to cover her chest.

"No, I never cared what anyone else thought of me. I always cared what you thought of me and I didn't want you to think I was a dork." he corrected her raising his hand to play with her long blond hair.

"But Roger, you knew you could always be yourself around me. No one knew more about me than you and vice versa. At least that's what I thought." she said lifting her hand up to caress his hair.

"Cal, you always knew everything about me, but by the time I was 16 I didn't know who I was. I mean, you wrote in your diary that you liked me, but you were 12 then. I fell in love with you, but I thought you stopped liking me. And then I thought you had a thing for Collins because you were always together." he smiled looking up at her.

"Collins was like my girlfriend. He knew my feelings for you. I made him swear not to tell you, but I was hoping he would anyway. You know how bad guys are at keeping secrets." she laughed looking down at him.

"Nope. He just kept torturing me about asking you out. He kept saying that if I didn't ask you out soon, you were gonna get asked out by someone else and I'd lose my chance." he smiled looking up at her.

"I did get asked out by other guys, but I belonged to you. I always belonged to you Roger." she smiled leaning over to kiss him.

"Who asked you out?" he asked looking over at her.

"Roger, it doesn't matter. I never wanted to date anyone but you. We belonged to each other. Even when we were 3." she smiled caressing his cheek.

"Yeah, but who asked you out back in school?" he asked as she leaned back.

"You're not gonna let this go, are you?" she laughed looking over at him.

"I'm just curious." he asked looking up at her.

"Rob. When I turned him down, he started messing with me." she said looking over at him.

"Was that the day I kicked his ass?" he asked looking over at her.

"Mhm. He was such a jerk." she said smiling at him.

"OK, who else?" he asked looking over at her.

"Mark. But he wasn't very good at it." she laughed looking over at him.

"Mark? Our Mark asked you out? When?" he asked sitting up more.

"It was for the spring formal in 9th grade." she smiled looking over at him.

"How did he ask you?" he asked curious.

"Well, he came up to me and said that he knew I liked you, but since it didn't look like you were gonna ask me out anytime soon, would I like to go to the spring formal with him." she laughed looking down at him.

"You're kidding? He asked you like that?" he laughed bringing his legs up to his chest.

"Yeah. Don't torture him about it though, OK? It was a long time ago." she said looking over at him.

"But that is the lamest way to ask a girl out ever." he laughed looking over at her.

"We were 14 Roger. And I didn't see you getting up the nerve to ask me out." she smiled looking over at him.

"That's true. I can't believe Mark gets the balls up before I do and he blows it like that." he laughed looking over at her.

"I know. I felt bad for him. He's always been in your shadow Roger. Everything he wanted, you got." she said looking over at him.

"What do you mean?" he asked confused.

"Well, do you remember when we were little? He wanted the comic book party for his 10th birthday, but you had one instead. He wanted the magician at his 8th birthday party, but your parents got one for you first. He liked me, but I was always your girl." she said folding her legs in front of her.

"Yeah but, he gets to live when this is all over." he said looking over at her.

"But he's been watching you get what you want all these years. While you were out living your dreams, he was documenting it. He didn't get to do much living of his own. That must have been really hard for him." she said looking over at him.

"Oh man. You're right." he said looking over at her.

"Roger, it's not your fault. It's just that you were always older and we were all so close. We liked the same things and your birthday was always first." she smiled looking over at him.

"But he's been taking care of me. He lost Maureen because of it and now 6 years later, he's just getting his life back." he said looking over at her.

"But he is. That's all that matters Baby. We're all getting our lives back." she smiled laying against his chest.

"Finally. It only took us 7 years." he smiled leaning down to kiss her head.

"But we are Roger. We're together again and we're never gonna let each other go again." she said looking up at him.

"You've always been my destiny Cal. I've known that for as long as I can remember." he smiled leaning down to kiss her.

"I know Roger." she whispered kissing him again. This time more passionately.


	5. Chapter 5

"Hey Marky, whatcha doin'?" Callie asked coming out of hers and Roger's room. She was wearing Roger's blue terry cloth bathrobe.

"Just looking at some old pictures." he smiled looking up at her.

"Wow, look how young we were." she laughed picking up at pile of pictures.

"Yeah, this is from when I first moved in here." he laughed leaning towards her.

"Yeah, we were young and reckless back then, weren't we?" she smiled looking down at the picture.

"We didn't have a care in the world." he smiled looking up at her. She was still staring down at the picture. It was of her and Roger sitting on the couch. Or rather, Roger was sitting on the couch and she was sitting on his lap. He was nuzzling her neck and she was giggling.

"We still don't." she smiled turning around to get her pills out of the kitchen cabinet.

"How are you not scared?" he asked looking over at her.

"Because no one is guaranteed forever Mark. All we have is right now. And right now, Roger and I are getting married and I'm back home with my friends where I belong." she smiled putting her pills on the counter.

"We had a couple of friends who thought that way." he smiled looking up at her.

"I know. Roger told me. I'm glad him and Collins had people like Angel and Mimi in their lives." she smiled getting a glass of water for herself so she could take her pills.

"You're not mad that Roger was with someone else?" he asked looking up at her.

"No. We were broken up and he was going through a really rough time. She helped him through it. I'm actually grateful for her. She helped bring my Roger back." she smiled looking over at him.

"And she helped bring you back too." he smiled getting up to hug her.

"Yeah, she did. I'm grateful to her for that too." she smiled hugging him back.

"Morning you two." Roger smiled from the doorway of his and Callie's room.

"Good morning Baby. Did you sleep well?" she smiled letting go of Mark to walk over to him.

"Whatch doin'?" he asked looking down at her.

"Just looked at some old pictures." she smiled leaning up to kiss him.

"Holy shit, look how young we were." he smiled looking down at the pictures.

"Yeah. That was before those little grays popped up." Callie teased looking up at Roger.

"I do not have grays." he whined looking down at her.

"Oh yeah? What about that one? And that one?" she laughed pointing out hairs on his head.

"Oh yeah." he called out leaning down to pick her up into his arms.

"Roger stop." she squealed looking up at him.

"Well stop saying I have gray hairs." he laughed leaning in to kiss her neck.

"OK, you don't have gray hairs." she squealed looking up at him.

"Thank you." he laughed letting her go.

"That many anyway." she laughed running away from him.

"You're in for it now." he called out running after her.

"Marky help me." she laughed trying to evade capture.

"No way. You're on your own Cal. You know not to mess with Roger when it comes to his hair." he laughed watching them.

"Oh come on Marky. Are you chicken?" she laughed shifting back and forth behind the couch to confuse Roger.

"Yep. I learned a long time ago not to get in between you two. It only gets gross." he laughed lifting up his coffee cup to drink it.

"Wuss." she yelled out before trying to make it to the bedroom, but Roger had jumped over the couch and caught her. "Ahh." He wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her up.

"Gotcha. Now who's getting old?" he laughed holding her in his arms.

"That's not fair. You've always been faster then me." she squealed looking back at him.

"That's because I'm good." he smiled letting her down and turning her around to face her.

"You are very good." she smiled wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him in to kiss her.

"What's going on out here? It sounds like someone's getting killed." Serena laughed coming out of Mark's bedroom.

"Sorry Serena. We didn't mean to wake you up. Roger and I were just playing around." Callie laughed looking over at her.

"Yeah, Cal teased Roger about his hair." Mark smiled looking over at her.

"Oh, that explains it." Serena laughed looking over at him.

"Hey, I'm not that bad with my hair." Roger complained looking over at her.

"Oh yeah. That's why you went chasing after me when I teased you about a couple of gray hairs." Callie laughed looking up at him.

"OK. Maybe I'm a little bad when it comes to my hair." he laughed leaning down to kiss her.

"Baby, do you want to see some old pictures of Roger and Callie?" Mark smiled looking over at her.

"Definitely." she smiled walking over to him. "Wow, look how young you guys were." she smiled looking down at them.

"That was about 10 years ago when Mark first moved in." Callie smiled as she and Roger walked over to the counter.

"Did you and Collins ever have a thing?" Serena smiled picking up one of the pictures. It was of Roger, Callie and Collins. Callie was in the middle of them. Roger and Callie were looking at the camera and Collins was smiling at Callie.

"Nah, he's been one of my best friends for as long as we can remember. He always said I was the only girl he would ever love." she smiled looking down at the picture.

"Hey Mark, can we have that picture to hang up in our room?" Roger asked smiling down at it.

"How about I get copies made for you guys, me and Collins." he suggested looking up at him.

"I think that's a great idea Baby." Serena smiled draping her arm around Mark's neck.

"Marky, everything is gonna be OK, you know. Me, Roger and Collins are gonna be fine." Callie said looking over at him.

"I know sweetie. I just always loved this picture and I know Collins does too. He's been wanting to get it from me for years." he smiled looking up at her.

"It is a great picture." she smiled looking down at it.

"Yeah it is." Mark agreed quietly looking down at the picture.

"Um... how about the three of us get dressed and go out to breakfast. I miss going to the Life Cafe." Callie suggested as Roger wrapped his arms around her waist from behind.

"That's a great idea Baby." Roger smiled leaning down to kiss her head.

"Are you guys game?" Callie asked looking up at Mark and Serena.

"Yeah, I'd like that Cal. Just let me and Mark get dressed and we'll meet you guys out here in 5. Or do you need 10 minutes to do your hair Roger?" Serena teased looking up at Roger.

"You're gonna be trouble around here, aren't you?" Roger laughed looking down at her.

"Pretty much." she laughed looking up at him.

"I like her Mark. She's not afraid to join in on teasing Roger." Callie laughed looking over at Mark.

"Yeah, that's a plus. But you're still the princess." Mark smiled getting up from the stool.

"You better believe it." Callie laughed as she and Roger went into their bedroom.

"You like Serena, don't you?" Roger asked looking over at her.

"Yeah, I do. She's sweet, funny and most of all, she loves Mark." she smiled looking over at him as she dug through the dresser drawer for clothes to wear.

"Yeah, it's good to see him with someone again. It's been a really long time. I was afraid he was gonna turn into a monk." he laughed slipping into his jeans.

"Roger, he's Jewish. I don't think they can become monks." she laughed looking over at him.

"Well it doesn't matter because he's happy now." he smiled looking over at her.

"Yeah he does seem to be, doesn't he?" she smiled sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Come on. Mark and Serena are waiting for us. I don't want to get blamed for holding everyone up." he smiled sitting next to her.

"OK Baby." she laughed leaning over to kiss him before getting up to get dressed. He just sat there smiling up at her. "Roger, you have to finish getting dressed." she smiled looking over at him seeing that he was staring at her.

"Sorry, I can't help it. I just still can't believe you're right in front of me Home at last." he smiled looking over at her.

"Me neither Baby." she smiled as they finished getting dressed to meet Mark and Serena for breakfast.

"So Roger and Callie are standing at the Pac Man machine and they're flirting in over drive. I mean, it's so bad that me, Collins, and our friends Nicky and Ruth are watching this, and it's making us crazy. Callie's shoving him away from the game with her hips and he's getting his ass kicked by a girl because she's distracting him. Then all of a sudden, they stop playing, talk for like a minute or so and then they're kissing. You have no idea how relieved we were that they finally kissed. I'm telling you. The sexual tension between the two of them you could cut with a knife for 4 years." Mark laughed as they sat at the table in the Life Cafe drinking coffee.

"Well we've known each other since we were 3 years old. Our parents had been best friends since they moved to Scarsdale when he was 3." Callie smiled looking over at her.

"Then my parents decided to drop the bomb that we were moving to Milwaukee. Just like that. Me and Cal just started dating so I didn't go at first. Scarsdale was all I ever knew. I stayed with Collins and his parents until the end of the summer before our senior year. My parents wanted me in Milwaukee with them, but I didn't want to be away from Cal, so we ran away. We came here and built a life for ourselves here." Roger smiled with his arm around Callie.

"You guys came here when you were 17? Wow. How did you survive?" Serena asked looking over at them.

"We had some savings, so we rented the loft and then we got jobs. I was a bartender and Cal was a waitress." he smiled looking over at her.

"You were a bartender at 17 years old?" she asked looking up at him.

"I lied about my age. They thought I was 18." he smiled looking over at her.

"And he formed a band and played clubs on the weekends." Callie smiled looking up at him.

"And now you're about to become an international rock star." she smiled looking up at Roger.

"National rock star, maybe. I mean it's not Arista Records, but it's a pretty good label." he smiled looking over at her.

"That's awesome Roger. Really." she smiled picking up her coffee cup to take a sip.

"And I owe it all to Cal." he smiled leaning over to kiss Callie's head.

"How's that?" she asked looking over at them.

"I wrote her a song and it got the attention of a very important person at a record label." he smiled looking over at her.

"I'd like to hear it sometime." she smiled looking up at him.

"It's amazing Serena. It's beautiful." Callie smiled looking up at Roger.

"I'm sure it is." she smiled looking up at Mark.

"The first time I heard it was at my friend Ray's club. Roger sung it to get me back. It worked." she smiled looking up at Roger.

"Apparently." she smiled looking over at them.

"He proposed to me that night. I said yes." she smiled looking over at her.


	6. Chapter 6

"I don't want to go wedding dress shopping." Callie whined looking over at Roger as she brushed her hair.

"Well, you can't wear jeans and a t-shirt to our wedding, so you need to go shopping with Maureen, Serena and Allie." he smiled looking up with her from the bed.

"Why not? I wouldn't mind." she looked over at him.

"Then I'm gonna be over dressed." he laughed at her.

"And what are you gonna wear?" she asked sitting on the bed next to him.

"A tuxedo like the other guys." he smiled sitting up in the bed.

"Oh yeah? I've always wanted to see you in a tux." she smiled leaning over to kiss him.

"And I've always wanted to see you in a long beautiful wedding gown." he smiled reaching up to caress her face.

"Fine, I'll go. But only for you. And I want it on the record that I have no problem getting married in city hall with us wearing jeans and t-shirts and you with your leather jacket on." she smiled caressing his chest.

"Noted. Now get out of here. And don't come home without a long, beautiful, gown." he smiled leaning up to kiss her again.

"OK Baby. I'll see you later." she smiled kissing him again before getting up and leaving the bedroom.

"Later Baby." he smiled as he watched her leave. He reached over to grab Callie's pillow and held it to his chest. He rolled over onto his stomach and looked at the picture that was on Callie's nightstand. It was the picture of him, Callie and Collins. He loved the smile on Callie's face. He'd known for many years that Collins loved Callie. He couldn't blame him. Callie was always the most amazing girl in the world. Collins would do anything for Callie. Just like he would. He knew if he went first, Collins would take care of her for him.

"Rog, are you up?" Mark asked knocking on the door.

"Um... yeah, come on in." he called out looking up.

"Is everything OK?" he asked entering the bedroom.

"Yeah, yeah everything is fine. I was just thinking." he said looking up at him.

"Roger, no one's gonna have to take care of Cal when you're gone, because you're not leaving her. At least not any time soon." he said sitting on the edge of the bed.

"I know, but when the time comes. I want all of you to look out for her. I mean, I know she's gonna lean on Collins the most, but she's gonna need you guys too." he said looking over at him.

"Don't worry Rog. We'll make sure she's OK. We'll take care of her just like you do." he said looking over at him.

"Yeah, some job I did, huh?" he said tossing the pillow aside and getting out of bed.

"Roger, how were you supposed to know? You didn't. She doesn't hate you, you know? If anything, I think she loves you more now than before. And that's saying a lot." he said looking over at him.

"I love her more too and I didn't think that was possible. I just do, you know?" he said looking down at him as he put his jeans on over his boxers.

"I know man." he said looking up at him. "You know, I always wanted what you had with Callie. I thought I had it with Maureen, but I think I definitely have it with Serena." he smiled looking up at him.

"I'm sorry I always got what you wanted. Even when we were growing up. I never meant for that to happen." he said looking down at him.

"What do you mean?" he asked looking over at him.

"The magician I had for my 8th birthday. The comic book theme for my 10th birthday party."

"That was a long time ago Rog." he interrupted.

"Cal." he said looking over at him.

"She told you about me asking her out in 9th grade, huh?" he asked looking up at him.

"Yeah, she did. Mark, you never had any self confidence and I'm sorry that that was partly my fault." he said leaning against the wall.

"I knew she was in love with you, but I figured I'd try to ask her out before you came to your senses and realized you loved her too." he said looking up at him.

"Yeah, I was really stupid back then, huh? I wasted so much time." he said looking down at him.

"You were just always tongue tied around her. I can relate." he laughed looking up at him.

"She always was some girl, huh?" Roger smiled looking over at him.

"Yeah, and now she's a great woman. It's been an adventure watching you two grow into your feelings for each other and get to the point where you're finally planning your wedding." he said looking over at him.

"Mark, are you in love with Callie?" Roger asked walking over to the bed.

"I was. A… a long time ago." he answered quietly looking down.

"I'm sorry Mark." he said putting his hand on his shoulder.

"Don't be. I'm glad she's ending up with you. You always worshipped the ground she walked on. You treat her right. That's all I ever wanted for her." he said getting up to leave the bedroom.

"Until I did something stupid and hurt us both." he looked over at him.

"Nobody's perfect. Not even the great Roger Davis." he smiled to himself before closing the bedroom door behind him.

"How about this one?" Serena asked taking a dress off of the rack.

"I'm sure Roger would love the whole Disney princess style, but it's just not me." Callie said looking at the dress.

"Honey, you only get married once. You might as well do it right and look like a princess." Maureen smiled holding a dress up to her.

"And you are the princess." Allie laughed looking over at her.

"How did that come about anyway?" Serena asked looking over at her as she pawed through the racks.

"Roger, Mark, Collins and I grew up together and I was always the only girl. Well, other than our friend Ruth, but she was dating Nicky, so I was always the only girl out with the guys. I played video games and liked comic books and stuff. Ruth just hung out because Nicky hung out. She was mainly with him. Even when me and Roger started dating, I was never like the girlfriend. I was just one of the guys. Then when Benny moved in, he started calling me that because of the way the guys were with me and it stuck." she smiled looking over at her.

"I never knew that Benny came up with that." Allie looked over at her surprised.

"Yeah, it was a term of endearment. I liked it actually. Still do." she smiled at her.

"All the guys love you very much Cal." she smiled looking over at her.

"I know. I love them too. I can't imagine who I would be without them." she smiled looking at more dresses.

"No really. They would do anything for you. Especially Mark." she said looking over at her.

"I grew up with Mark. It's all he knows. Taking care of me." she smiled looking over at her.

"But he loves you Cal. I can tell by the way he talks about you." she said looking over at her.

"We've just known each other for so long Serena. We're best friends." Callie said looking over at her.

"She's right Cal. Mark's in love with you. His reaction when you told him about you being positive. Don't tell me you didn't realize it?" Allison said looking over at her.

"No. Mark's not in love with me. He only reacted that way because all of his friends have HIV and he couldn't believe that another one of us has it. Right?" she said looking at her confused.

"He's always been in love with you Cal. I noticed it back when me and him were dating. I asked him about it, but he just told me that you were one of his best friends and that you were meant to be with Roger." Maureen said looking over at her.

"Well, I am one of his best friends." she said looking over at her.

"I know Mark asked you out when you guys were in 9th grade. He got drunk one night and we were talking about how great you and Roger were together and he let it slip. He said even though Roger didn't have to guts to ask you out, he still lost you to him." she said looking over at her.

"He said that?" she asked looking over at her.

"Yeah, he did. But even drunk he still agreed that you were meant to be with Roger and that Roger treated you the way you deserved to be treated." Maureen said looking over at her.

"Oh my God. I can't believe I never knew Mark felt that way about me." she said looking over at them.

"He worships you Cal." Serena said looking down at her.

"I just thought it was because we grew up together and he was protective because I was the only girl." she said looking over at her.

"Well he is, but he's been in love with you since you guys were younger." Maureen smiled looking over at her.

"I don't believe it. I mean, when he asked me out when we were 14, he just acted like he wanted to go with me because he knew Roger wouldn't ask me and he didn't want me to go alone." she said sitting on the bench in the store.

"He was in love with you sweetie. He tried waiting for Roger to ask you out, because he knew Roger was in love with you too, but after 2 years of watching Roger flirt with you but chicken out, he got sick of waiting." Maureen said sitting next to her.

"I'm sorry guys. I didn't know." she said looking up at Maureen and Serena.

"It's not your fault Callie. That's just how Mark feels. You know he would never do anything about it because of how great you and Roger are together. When you were gone, it took a lot for him to actually look at Roger because he blamed him for you leaving and never coming back." Maureen said putting her hand on her shoulder.

"I can't believe I never noticed it before. I mean, looking back, it does explain a lot about how Mark was back then. I mean, when he dropped out of Brown and came to live at the loft with us, he wanted the bedroom as far away from us as possible and then when he started dating you he wasn't comfortable around us without you around. He used to yell at us when he would catch us making out on the couch. I just thought it was a joke, but he was jealous. I mean, he's been losing out to Roger his whole life. Roger always got the birthday parties he wanted and then he gets me. What should I say to him?" she asked looking over at Maureen.

"Nothing. He's been dealing with his feelings for this long, I don't think any good would come out of him knowing that you know." Maureen said as Serena stood by them.

"I'm sorry Serena. I never did anything to provoke him to have feelings for me. You have to believe that. I've always been in love with Roger. I never thought about anyone else." she said looking up at Serena.

"I know Cal. You look at him as a brother. It's not your fault he feels the way he does." she said looking down at her.

"But I don't want it ruining what you guys have together. You're really great for him." she said looking up at her.

"Yeah I am. And I know he realizes that and our relationship will continue to grow." she smiled looking down at her.

"Do you think Roger knows?" she asked looking over at Allison.

"Yeah sweetie. It's a safe bet. Roger may be cute, but he's not stupid. But knowing Roger, he understands Mark's feelings. He knows how great you are." she smiled looking down at her.

"Sweetie, you can't let this effect your relationship with him though. He counts on your friendship. It would kill him if you started acting different around him because you were uncomfortable." Serena said looking down at her.

"I would never do that Serena. He's one of my best friends. He's always been there for me. From the time we were little. It was really hard not having him in my life these last 7 years." she said looking up at her. "But what do I do?" she asked looking up at her.

"Just act like you always did. He's still the same Mark he's always been." Maureen said looking over at her.

"OK. Um... thanks guys. I'm glad I have friends like you." she said looking up at everyone.

"We'll always be your friends Cal. Even though you have our boyfriends heart." Maureen teased as Serena laughed a little.

"Maureen, that's not funny. I feel really bad." Callie whined looking over at her.

"You don't have anything to feel bad about Cal. It's OK. Actually it gives me hope that Mark is capable of feeling real love for someone. I was afraid he was too detached from the real world." Serena said looking down at her.

"Mark is a great guy Serena. Don't you give up on him just yet." Callie insisted getting up and standing in front of her.

"I don't plan on it Cal. I'm in love with him." she smiled looking over at her.

"And he's in love with you too." she smiled hugging her.

"I know. Thanks Cal." she smiled hugging her back.

"Well Benny's not in love with you." Allison smiled looking over at her.

"Are you kidding? He's in love with me most of all. I saved him from many ass kickings from Roger back in the day." she laughed looking over at her.

"That's true. Benny always did have a big mouth when it came to challenging Roger." Maureen laughed looking over at her.

"Yeah well, they had that war going on. Poor Benny would get pranked by Roger and then he would get mad, but pretend that it was me who stopped him from going after Roger because he didn't want me to get hurt, but then I'd come up with a way for him to get Roger back and it would backfire. Benny never had any luck pulling pranks on anyone. No matter how fool proof." she laughed looking over at her.

"You used to help Benny prank Roger?" Serena asked laughing.

"All the time. I may have loved the man my entire life, but he was always so cocky. I wanted someone to knock him off his high horse." she laughed looking over at her.

"Yeah, too bad Benny's a fool and messed up all your plans." Allison laughed looking over at her.

"Yeah, and he's the father of your child." she smiled reaching out to rub her belly.

"I do love him. No matter how many times he messed up." she smiled looking down at her belly.

"Collins was always the better adversary anyway." Maureen laughed looking over at her.

"Oh my God. Collins was a genius. And he was always so slick, he let Roger blame poor Marky or Benny. He'd just sit back and enjoy the show." Callie laughed looking over at her.

"Like what?" Serena asked. She loved hearing stories about the loft in it's hay day.

"Well, the guys had a shower schedule. You have to remember, we had 1 bathroom and 4 boys. I mean, I took the first shower in the morning because I worked earlier and I was the princess, so I was never on the schedule. Well one day, Collins decided to change a couple of names around. Roger was in the shower one day during Mark's shower time. Roger thought Mark changed it. Because he did that a lot back then. But then as soon as Roger's in there, he changes the names back to the way they were. So Mark comes out of his room to go in the shower and Roger's in there. Poor Roger, Mark busts in on him and just lets him have it. Collins is sitting on the couch trying not to laugh. And here comes Mark and Roger storming out of the bathroom. Roger in nothing but a towel and they go into Benny's room and wake him up, and they're going off on him. And with the feud between Roger and Benny, it was only natural to blame Benny for it to have Mark yell at Roger. Benny swore up and down it wasn't him. In the meantime, Collins is busting a gut trying not to laugh. I thought I'd have to take him to the hospital or something because when he told me, he finally did let loose and he laughed for like an hour." she laughed telling them all about it.

"But that's Collins. He wouldn't be Collins if he didn't start trouble." Maureen laughed looking over at her.

"Oh my God, I remember that. Benny came to my place bitching about Roger being paranoid and dragging poor Mark into his paranoid delusions." Allison laughed looking over at her.

"It was the funniest thing, I swear. I was at work, so I didn't hear about it until later. Then it took Collins a half an hour to finish telling me about it because he was laughing so hard." she laughed looking over at her.

"It sounds like you guys had a lot of fun." Serena smiled looking over at her.

"We did. But we were young and reckless back then. I mean, Roger's 30 now and me, Collins and Marky aren't too far behind him. We're getting too old to be pranking each other." she smiled looking over at her.

"Yeah well, judging by the way I was woken up that first morning after you came home, you guys aren't that old." Serena smiled looking over at her.

"What do you mean?" Allison asked looking over at her.

"Roger was chasing me around the loft." Callie laughed looking up at her.

"You teased him about his hair, didn't you? You know how he gets with that." Maureen laughed looking over at her.

"I just pointed out a couple of gray hairs. I was just having a little fun." she laughed looking over at her.

"I'm surprised you're alive to tell the tale." Allison laughed looking over at her.

"Roger's a big pussy cat. Especially when it comes to me." she laughed looking over at them.

"You should have heard them. She's squealing at the top of her lungs laughing and he's holding her around her waist in the air like she was nothing. It was cute." Serena smiled looking over at Callie.

"And I bet pretty impressive too." Maureen laughed looking over at her.

"Maureen." Callie called out laughing.

"What? Roger is very sexy when he picks you up like it's nothing. I've been saying that for years." she smiled putting her arm around her shoulder.

"Yeah, he is pretty sexy, huh?" Callie laughed looking over at her.

"Mhm." Serena chimed in as everyone looked at her. "What? I'm not allowed to notice how hot Roger is?" she asked as everyone laughed.

"Oh yeah. She's one of us." Callie smiled putting her arm around Serena's shoulders.


	7. Chapter 7

"Babe, tell me about Mimi." Callie asked looking over at Roger as they lay in bed.

"You would have really liked her. She didn't take any of my shit. Like you. It's probably one of the things that attracted me to her. I used to tell her about you all the time." he smiled looking over at her.

"What did you tell her about me?" she asked rolling over onto her stomach and leaning up onto her elbows.

"Everything. I told her everything. She really liked you. When she was sick, we'd sit up for hours just talking about you and Scarsdale. She once asked me why I haven't gone to LA to look for you. I told her that I didn't think you'd take me back after everything." he said looking down at her as he remembered Mimi.

"_How come you never went after Callie after you got clean?" Mimi asked laying in Roger's bed._

"_Cal doesn't want to see me." he said looking over at her._

"_Maybe she does. Don't you think a love like yours would be enough for her to forgive you?" she asked looking over at him._

"_Not this time. I screwed up too bad." he said getting up from the bed to walk around._

"_You still remember where she lives, right?" she asked looking up at him._

"_I don't know. She probably moved by now. She didn't want to see me years ago." he said looking down at her._

"_How do you know if you don't try? No day but today." she smiled looking up at him._

"_Maybe one day, but not now. I can't do it now. I can't go to her like this." he said running his fingers through his hair._

"_Like what? Roger, you're clean and you're writing again." she said looking up at him._

"_Yeah, but I'm not me. I can't go to her until I'm me again. The me she knows. It's bad enough I'm gonna be dying on her. I can't spend that time being someone she doesn't know. I have to go to her as her Roger. Not this guy." he said looking down at her._

"_So what's stopping you?" she asked looking up at him._

"_I don't know. I need more time." he said looking down at her._

"_Time, my love, is something you don't have." she said looking up at him._

"_I just need a little. I don't feel like that guy yet, but I will. Then I'll be ready to see her. Now, you should rest Mimi. You need your rest." he said going over to the bed to fix her blankets._

"_Promise me you're gonna find her Roger." she said looking up at him._

"_You need your rest." she said looking up at him._

"_Roger please. Promise me you're gonna find her and make things right. Promise me you're gonna be you again." she said clutching his hand._

"_I promise Mimi. I promise I'll be me and I'll find her." he said looking down at her._

"I would have really liked her, wouldn't I have?" she asked looking up at him.

"Yeah Baby. You would have." he smiled leaning down to kiss her before holding her in his arms.

"Um... Roger, can I ask you something?" she asked looking up at him.

"What's up Baby?" he asked looking down at her.

"Did you love her?" she asked looking up at him.

"Yeah, I did." he told her quietly.

"Roger, it's OK. You loved her when she needed it the most. You were there for her. I am not mad at you. You're a good man and I always knew that." she whispered leaning up to kiss him.

"I'm gonna be a good husband to you Cal. I swear." he smiled lifting his hand to caress her face.

"I know Roger. I never doubted that." she smiled kissing him again.

"Callista Marie Stevens, get out here right now." Allison called out as Callie hid in the dressing room.

"No, I'm not coming out. I look like a marshmallow fluff." she called out as Maureen, Serena and Joanne waited for her.

"You don't look like a marshmallow fluff. You're in your wedding dress and you look beautiful. Now get out here before I waddle my fat, bloated, pregnant ass in there and drag you out by your veil." Allison argued standing outside the door.

"Allie, calm down. You're liable to drop that baby right here and now if you keep yelling at Callie." Maureen said going over to her.

"Yeah well, at least he'll know that his Godmother is a whiney baby. Callie, I wanna see how it looks." Allison told her before directing her attention back to the dressing room.

"Fine. But if Roger laughs at me for looking like a freak, it's on your head." she said finally coming out of the dressing room.

"He is not gonna laugh at you Callie. You look ravishing." Joanne smiled looking over at her.

"You really do Cal. Wow. I've never seen you so beautiful." Maureen smiled looking over at her.

"I do not. I look ridiculous. It's too much. I can't believe Roger wanted this." she said looking in the mirror.

"I can. You look amazing Cal. He's gonna be speechless sweetie." Serena smiled looking over at her as Allison played with the back of her dress.

"Allie, what the hell are you doing?" she asked looking back at her.

"It's too tight up here? Are your boobs growing?" she asked looking at the back.

"No Allie, my boobs are not growing. Maybe they took it in too much." she said looking back at her.

"No they didn't. I specifically told them that we wanted it tight enough to stay up, but not too tight where it's cutting off your circulation." she complained looking over at her.

"It's not cutting off my circulation Al. Why are you getting so crazy about it? It feels fine." she asked looking back at her.

"No, I want it to be perfect. I want everything for you and Roger to be perfect." she told her fussing with the dress some more.

"Allie, stop." she said turning around to look at her.

"I just need to make sure they didn't screw anything else up. The wedding is in 2 weeks." she said messing with the dress.

"Honey, stop, OK. Everything is gonna be perfect. I promise. It's me and Roger. We're finally getting married and all of the people we love are gonna be there. That's what's gonna make it perfect. Not a dress." she said looking down at her.

"No, it's not. What matters is that you and Roger have the best wedding 2 people could have and the best life with the time you have left." Allison started as tears formed in her eyes.

"Sweetie, it's not the time we have it's what we do with the time we have. I wish you wouldn't worry about those things. All you should be worrying about is taking care of my Godson until we can meet him." she said caressing her 6 months pregnant stomach.

"You guys have been through so much and now that you're finally back together, you deserve the best." she said looking over at her.

"We do have the best sweetie. We have the best friends anyone could ever have. With everything we've all been through together, we're still here. We're all still here. And we have new friends too. We are incredibly lucky." she smiled looking over at Joanne, Maureen and Serena.

"Yeah, a lot's happened, but we're still here. And we all want the best for you and Roger. You guys were always the only stable relationship any of us have ever known." Maureen said walking over to them.

"I know sweetie. And I'm really sorry about all the years we lost. But I'm here now and I wanna make up for it." Callie said looking up at her.

"We don't expect you to make up for anything Cal. We just want you guys to be happy." Maureen said looking over at her.

"When I left that first time, I messed a lot of things up. I made it possible for things to happen that shouldn't have. April, the drugs, the HIV. I broke his heart and put you guys through it." she looked over at them.

"You can't blame yourself for all of that Callie. Just be happy now. That's all we want for you." Allie said looking over at her best friend.

"We are happy Allie. Finally after too many years apart" she smiled looking up at her.

"I know sweetie and that's all we ever wanted for you and Roger." she smiled hugging her.

"Do my boobs look like they got bigger to you?" Callie asked entering the loft as Roger, Mark and Collins sat on the couch.

"Hello." Mark called out getting up as Collins laughed and Roger's eyes got wider.

"Um... what?" Roger laughed looking over at her.

"Allie said my boobs are must have gotten bigger because when we went for another fitting, my dress was a little tight around my chest. But I don't see it." she said looking down at her chest.

"I don't know. I like your chest, but it was always your eyes that I noticed." he smiled getting up and wrapping his arms around her waist.

"Roger, I'm serious. Allie is like, freaking out because my dress was too tight around my chest? Am I gaining weight?" she asked looking up at him.

"Your boobs did not get bigger. Allie's just going crazy. But not that I would mind if they were." he teased leaning in to kiss her neck.

"This is hopeless. I'm never gonna get a serious answer from you." she laughed looking up at him.

"Sorry Baby. It's just that the wedding is in 2 weeks and you know how Allie gets. Now that she's pregnant, she's worse." he laughed looking down at her.

"I don't know why I ask you anything." she smiled looking up at him.

"Me neither, but I love staring at your chest to evaluate the situation." he laughed looking down at her chest.

"You are a very naughty boy." she laughed playfully slapping his face.

"Hey, I thought you liked when I was naughty." he told her seductively leaning down to pick her up.

"You guys are gross. I'm out of here. See you later. Are you coming Collins?" Mark said looking over at him.

"Yeah, I'm with you. Straight people lovey dovey makes me nauseous. Bye guys." he smiled looking up at him getting up from the couch as they left the loft.

"I think we chased poor Marky and Collins away." Callie laughed looking up at him.

"Looks like. Now, where were we?" he asked looking over at her before carrying her into the bedroom.

"I love you Roger." she smiled as he gently placed Callie on the bed.

"I love you too Cal." he smiled leaning over her before kissing her gently on the lips.

"Ow." Callie called out quietly as Roger rolled on top of her.

"What happened?" he asked getting off of her quickly.

"I don't know. My chest just started hurting." she said looking over at him.

"What do you mean your chest just started hurting?" he asked sitting up.

"My boobs. When you leaned on them, they hurt." she said looking up at him.

"Let me see something." he said started to gently massage her breasts.

"Roger, what are you doing?" she asked looking over at him confused.

"Just, let me see something. Does this hurt?" he asked looking over at her.

"Ow, yeah it does. A little. What do you think it is?" she asked looking down at him.

"Well, there are no lumps that I can feel. Maybe we should go to the doctor and see what's wrong." he said looking over at her.

"Roger, could I be... could I be pregnant?" she asked looking up at him.

"Do you think?" he asked looking down at her.

"It would explain a lot. I mean, my boobs seem to be growing and they're tender. Roger, what if I am? What are we gonna do?" she asked sitting up looking over at him.

"What do you mean, what are we gonna do? Baby, if your pregnant, this is great." he smiled reaching up to caress her face.

"How is this great? Roger, I'm positive. What if the baby is positive too?" she asked getting up from the bed.

"If the baby's positive, we'll deal with it. But Baby, there's a good chance that the baby won't be. They have medications you can take that can lower the chance. Everything is gonna be OK Cal." he said looking up at her.

"How do you know that Roger? If I'm pregnant, the baby could wind up being positive. And if the baby's not positive, we still will be and we're gonna leave our child sometime. I don't know if I can handle that. Who would raise our child when we're gone?" she asked looking back at him as tears fell from her eyes.

"Baby, we don't even know if you are pregnant yet. Let's go to the doctor and see what he says. You could be getting worried for nothing." he said getting up to go to her.

"Roger, I've never felt this way before. I know I am. I don't know what I would do if I was pregnant." she said looking over at him.

"Baby, if you are, we'll deal with it. It's gonna be our baby and we're gonna love it more than anything in the world. And do anything to protect it." he said standing over her.

"How can we protect it from HIV Roger? None of us could be." she asked looking up at him as tears streamed down her face.

"We'll do whatever we can Cal. I promise. Please calm down, OK? I'll do everything in my power to protect you and the baby. Let's just get you checked out to make sure that's what it is, OK? Please." he pleaded taking her into his arms.

"OK Baby. I'm sorry. I'm worrying too much. We'll go to the doctor and then we'll deal with it." she said looking up at him.

"OK, how about we go to the clinic right now and get a test done and we'll take it from there." he said looking down at her.

"OK. Um... let me get cleaned up first. I need to wash my face." she said letting go of him.

"Cal, everything is gonna be OK. No matter what, we'll make sure everything is OK." he said looking down into her blue eyes.

"Roger, I want to believe you. I really do. But I'm just scared." she said looking up at him.

"I know Baby. I'm scared too. But it'll be OK. We'll deal with this together." he said taking her into his arms and kissing her head.

"OK." she said looking up at him before going into the bathroom to wash her face. Roger sat on the bed and put his head in his hands. What if Callie was pregnant? On the one hand, they had always wanted children together, but what if the baby was positive. Him and Callie couldn't handle watching their child get sick because of them. As Callie washed her face, he took a deep breath and tried to stay calm. For Callie, he had to. He got up from the bed and waited for her to be ready to leave for the doctor.


	8. Chapter 8

"Callista Stevens. The doctor will see you now." the nurse said poking her head into the waiting room.

"That's you Baby." Roger said looking down at her.

"You're coming in, right?" she asked looking up at him.

"Of course Baby. It's you and me, remember?" he smiled looking into her blue eyes and walked back towards the examining rooms.

"Sir, can you wait out here, please?" the nurse asked looking up at him.

"No. Can he come in? Please. He's my fiance." Callie said looking over at her.

"Sure. I'm sorry. We don't usually like to have anyone other than the patient in the examining rooms." the nurse said looking over at Callie.

"I know. I'm sorry. I just need him here with me." she said looking over at her.

"No problem. Right this way." she smiled looking over at her as Callie clutched Roger's hand. "Why don't you go in the ladies room and give us a little sample and we'll start running some simple tests." the nurse smiled handing her a specimen cup.

"OK, thank you." she said looking up at her before she left the room.

"Good luck Baby." he smiled looking down at her.

"Thanks Baby." she said looking up at him before going into the bathroom. As Roger sat on the examining room table, he hoped the test would be positive. He knew that Callie was scared that the baby would be born with HIV and he worried about that too, but he wanted to have a child with her. He always did. If the baby was born with HIV, they would deal with it. Their love could handle anything. As the bathroom door opened, he jumped off of the table.

"Are you OK?" he asked looking over at her.

"Um... yeah Roger. I was just going to the bathroom. There's little chance anything could happen to me in there." she laughed looking over at him.

"Yeah, right. Um... sorry. I'm nervous." he said looking down at her.

"I know. So am I. But we'll know soon." she smiled holding up the jar with her specimen in it. "Um... I'm gonna bring this out to the nurse." she said looking up at him.

"I love you Cal. No matter what it says, I love you." he smiled looking down at her.

"But I know you're hoping it'll be positive." she smiled looking up at him.

"Of course I am. I've been wanting to have kids with you since we were teenagers. And they'd be beautiful kids too. With a mama like you." he smiled leaning down to kiss her.

"Roger, I have to bring this to the nurse." she smiled looking up at him.

"OK Baby." he smiled as she opened the door to give the nurse the cup.

"The doctor will be with you in a minute Miss Stevens." she smiled looking over at her.

"Thank you." Callie smiled before going back into the room. "We should know soon." she smiled looking over at him.

"What is that smile about?" he asked looking down at her.

"Nothing. I was just thinking about things." she smiled wrapping her arms around his waist.

"You want it to be positive, don't you?" he asked looking down at her.

"The thought's growing on me. I mean, you're so excited, so it can't be a bad thing, right?" she asked looking up at him.

"Right." he smiled leaning down to kiss her head.

"Miss Stevens?" the doctor asked entering the room.

"Yes, hi doctor. Um... this is my fiance Roger Davis." she smiled looking over at him.

"Hi Mr. Davis, it's nice to meet you. Why don't we sit down?" the doctor asked looking over at them.

"Is it positive?" Roger asked as he and Callie sat on the examining room table.

"Roger." she called out looking over at him. "I'm sorry doctor. He's a little excited." she laughed.

"That's OK. I get that a lot. Well Miss Stevens, Mr. Davis, you are indeed expecting." he smiled as Roger got up to wrap his arms around Callie and pick her up.

"Yesss. That's awesome." he called out holding her in his arms.

"I take it I answered correctly?" the doctor said looking over at them laughing.

"You made our day." Callie laughed looking up at Roger.

"Congratulations." he smiled looking over at them.

"Thank you so much." Roger smiled looking over at him.

"Well, I see here that you're both HIV positive, so there are some consideration that need to be made." he said looking down at her chart.

"Yes. Um... do I need to start taking other medications to make sure the baby is negative? Is there anything I need to do to lower the baby's chance of being born with HIV?" she asked looking over at him.

"Miss Stevens, there are many very good medications that can help prevent your child from contracting HIV. In this day and age, there is a very slim chance that your child will be born with HIV through mother to child contamination. There are many things we can do to make the chances even slimmer. Don't worry. We'll take very good care of you and your child." the doctor smiled as Roger smiled over at him.

"Thank you so much doctor. They're my life." he smiled looking down at Callie.

"I understand completely Mr. Davis. I'll do everything I can to take care of your family." he smiled looking over at him as Callie smiled up at Roger.

"No one is gonna believe this." Callie smiled sitting on the park bench with Roger. His arms were around her and they watched the children play on the jungle gym.

"Yeah they will. And they're gonna be so happy. Our child isn't gonna be much younger than Allie and Benny's son. They can grow up together." he smiled looking down at her.

"And maybe we'll have a girl and they'll know each other their whole lives and get together, like we did." she smiled looking up at him.

"And they'll be destined to be together like we always were." he smiled leaning down to kiss her head.

"I would love for our child to grow up the same way we did." she smiled looking up at him.

"Hey, you two. What are you doing here?" Mark asked as him and Collins walked up to them in the park.

"Just admiring the view." Roger smiled looking over at the kids.

"Are you guys OK? Did something happen?" Mark asked as Collins sat next to Callie on the bench.

"No dummy. They're pregnant." Collins smiled looking over at them excitedly.

"Never could put anything past you." Callie laughed looking over at him.

"This is so exciting Babygirl." he smiled leaning over to hug Callie.

"Yeah, it is kind of great, isn't it?" she smiled looking over at him.

"What about your HIV?" Mark asked standing over them.

"The doctor gave me meds to take so the baby won't be positive and he said that there are other things we could do during delivery to make sure the baby's OK. It'll be fine Marky. I promise." she smiled looking up at him.

"Congratulations Cal. I'm really happy for you two. You guys deserve it." he smiled looking down at her.

"Thanks Marky. That means a lot." Callie smiled getting up to hug him.

"How about we all go back to the loft and organize a party?" Roger smiled looking up at them.

"Everyone will love it big daddy. This is definitely something to celebrate." Collins smiled leaning over to hug Roger.

"I'm gonna be a dad." he smiled looking over at her.

"And there it is." Callie laughed looking down at him.

"Baby, we're gonna have a baby." he smiled getting up to look down at her.

"I know Baby." she smiled wrapping her arms around his neck to hold him close.

"Come on, let's go celebrate. I'm gonna be a daddy." he smiled looking down at her.

"OK Baby." she smiled looking up at him before they left for home.

"Baby, do you need a nap before everyone gets here?" Roger asked looking down at Callie as they entered the loft.

"Nah, I'm OK. I'm not having any symptoms yet. Just the tender boobs." she smiled looking up at him.

"I'm gonna call and invite everyone over, OK?" Collins said looking over at them as he went to the phone.

"OK sweetie. I'm gonna start making some food. You guys should go on a liquor run." she smiled going into the kitchen.

"What about you?" Roger asked looking over at her.

"Just get me some sparkling cider. Me and Allie can drink it. Since we're the only pregnant ladies here." she smiled looking up at him.

"You like saying that, don't you?" he asked looking over at her.

"It's the first time I've been able to say the words." she looked over at him. "Roger, I'm pregnant." she smiled looking up at him.

"We're pregnant Cal." he smiled leaning down to pick her up.

"I know." she laughed holding him tight.

"You two are gonna be more impossible now, aren't you?" Mark asked looking up at them.

"Sorry Marky. Bet you're not so glad that Roger brought me back, huh?" Callie laughed looking over at him.

"It's OK sweetie. You deserve this." he smiled looking over at her as Roger held her in his arms.

"Thanks Mark." she smiled as Roger let her down. "OK, you guys should go to the store and pick up the supplies. Me and Collins will set everything up here." she smiled looking up at Roger.

"OK Baby. I love you." he smiled taking her face in his hands and leaning in for a gentle kiss.

"I love you too Roger." she smiled looking up into his green eyes kissing him again.

"And I love you too my little baby." he smiled leaning down to kiss Callie's flat belly before he and Mark left.

"So my Babygirl is gonna have a baby, huh?" Collins smiled walking towards the kitchen.

"Yep, it looks like. I can't believe I'm pregnant. After I was diagnosed, I figured my chances of being a mother was gone. But here I am. Getting married to the man I am destined to be with and pregnant with his child." she smiled standing at the metal counter.

"This is the most amazing thing that could ever happen to us Babygirl." he smiled looking down at her.

"It is, right?" she asked looking over at him.

"It really is Cal. We all deserve this. Not just you and Roger." he smiled looking down at her before wrapping his arms around her.

"I know we do. This past 7 years has been hard on all of us." she said looking up at him.

"Since you and Roger got back together, it's brought all of us back to life. When Allie found out she was pregnant, she wanted you to come home and be in her child's life. She didn't want her child to grow up not knowing Aunt Callie and Uncle Roger together. After you left, we all kind of went our separate ways. We all had a falling out with Benny and Allie couldn't even come to the loft anymore without you here. She was heartbroken. She not even lost her best friend, he lost her sister. You coming back meant as much to her as it did to me and Roger." he said looking down at her.

"I always wondered what happened to Allie and Benny. If they were still together, if they got married. If she was OK. But calling or coming home just wasn't an option. Not after everything that happened." she said looking over at him.

"I know Babygirl. There are things that happened back that was hard for all of us. But we grew up and realized that life is too short to worry about things like that. All we have is now." he smiled looking down at her.

"Collins, I wanna ask Mark to be the baby's guardian. In case something happens to me and Roger. When something happens to me and Roger." she said looking up at him.

"Have you spoken to Roger about this?" he asked looking down at her.

"Yeah, we were talking about it when we were sitting in the park. He thinks it's a great idea. He knows that Mark is gonna be like another father to our baby anyway and if things keep going well between him and Serena, she'll make a great mother." she said looking up at him with tears in her eyes.

"You're gonna be this baby's mother Cal. Everyone will make sure this baby knows who his mama is. And his mama was a smart, amazing woman who loved him very much. And loved his papa too. Don't worry Babygirl, your baby will know who his parents are and he will be loved no matter what. That baby will be never be alone." he smiled looking down at her.

"I know. Um... we should start setting up. Everyone will be getting here soon and Roger and Mark are gonna be coming back with the refreshments." she smiled looking up at him wiping her eyes.

"OK Babygirl. You know I love you, right?" he asked looking down at her.

"The only woman you'll ever love." she smiled looking up at him before going into the kitchen to make food for the party.

"Sweetie, I'm sorry I was getting crazy today at the dress shop. I didn't mean to come off as the Maid of Honor from hell. I just want everything to be perfect." Allison said looking over at Callie as they sat in the living room talking.

"No need to apologize sweetie. It turns out, you were right. My boobs are getting bigger. It's weird, but I guess when you're pregnant, you have to expect that." she smiled as she and Roger looked over at everyone.

"No way. You guys are pregnant? That's amazing. Oh my God." Maureen called out getting up faster than anyone to hug her.

"Yeah well, you know. Allie's married, so I gotta get married. Allie gets knocked up, so I have to get knocked up too." she laughed looking over at them.

"This is the best thing that could ever happen to you guys. I mean, he did put you on new meds to prevent the baby from getting it, right?" Allison asked looking over at her.

"Of course sweetie, but how did you know they had meds?" she asked looking over at her.

"I've been doing a little research since you came home. I wanted to have all the information I could, just in case this happened. The baby's gonna be fine sweetie. It turns out that the baby has a very tiny chance of contracting it from you. A c-section lowers that chance to nearly none." she smiled leaning over to hug her.

"I know. Thanks sweetie." she smiled hugging her back.

"We need to propose a toast." Joanne smiled looking over at them.

"I'll get the drinks." Collins smiled looking over at them.

"I'll help." Mark smiled looking up at him before getting up to help.

"I can't believe you're gonna be a daddy. This is wild, man. You and me are gonna be someone father." Benny smiled shaking Roger's hand.

"You're not kidding. We might actually have to grow up." Roger laughed looking over at him.

"Perish the thought Baby." Callie laughed looking over at him.

"We're gonna raise our baby's together. They're gonna be like siblings." Allison smiled looking over at her.

"Actually we were hoping that if the baby is a girl, they could grow up together and maybe they'll be destined to be together like me and Roger." she smiled looking over at her.

"That'll be funny." Benny smiled looking over at her.

"Yeah, even if it is your son." Roger teased looking over at Benny.

"Screw you Davis." Benny said looking over at him as the girls laughed.

"OK, we need to propose a toast before those two kill each other." Collins smiled looking over at everyone as he and Mark passed out the glasses.

"OK, I wanna go first because I'm the loudest and I called it first. To Roger and Callie. Everything is exactly the way it's supposed to be." Maureen smiled looking over at everyone.

"That was perfect Maureen." Callie smiled looking over at her as they drank.

"Like my baby's mother." Roger whispered in her ear before kissing her head.


	9. Chapter 9

"Good morning Baby." Callie smiled standing at the metal counter eating a plate of eggs.

"What time is it?" he asked stumbling out of the bedroom. He was hung over from the night before.

"10:30. You guys really tied one on last night." she smiled looking over at him.

"Yeah well, we were celebrating little Davis Jr. here. But I'm not gonna be doing it all the time. I promise." he smiled looking down at her.

"I know Baby. Don't forget to take your medicine." she smiled looking up at him.

"Did you take yours?" he asked reaching into the cabinet for his along with the bottle of aspirin.

"Yep. As soon as I got up. And I drank a whole glass of water and now I'm having orange juice and some eggs." she smiled looking up at him.

"Good. You gotta keep yourself nourished for you and the baby." he smiled looking down at her.

"Do you want some? I can make more if you want." she offered looking up at him.

"No thanks. I'm the one who should be making you breakfast." he smiled leaning down to kiss her head.

"It's OK. I don't mind. Considering I'm the only one in this loft who doesn't have a hang over this morning." she laughed looking up at him.

"You think you're hilarious, don't you?" he smiled looking down at her.

"Yeah well, pregnancy brings out the comedian in me." she laughed leaning up to kiss him. "Eww, skuzzy morning hang over breath. Gross." she cringed looking up at him.

"I'm gonna go brush my teeth and get cleaned up." he smiled looking down at her.

"Good idea. I haven't had morning sickness yet and I don't want to start now." she smiled looking up at him.

"OK Baby." he smiled going into the bathroom as Serena came out of the bedroom.

"Hey sunshine." Callie smiled looking up at her.

"Hey." she smiled looking over at her.

"Do you want breakfast? I can make coffee if you want." she smiled holding out the aspirin bottle to her.

"Coffee sounds great. But nothing to eat, please." she said looking over at her.

"No problem. Did you have fun last night?" she smiled turning around to make the coffee.

"Yeah, but I'm paying for it today though." she smiled looking back at her.

"Yeah, keeping up with those guys isn't easy." Callie laughed looking over at her.

"You can say that. But that was one hell of a party. I swear, we were the ones who were drinking and you and Allie had the most fun." she smiled sitting on the stool in front of the metal counter.

"Don't feel bad sweetie. Me and Allie have known each other for so long, we just have our own language. It used to drive Benny and Roger nuts." she laughed looking over at her.

"What used to drive Benny and Roger nuts?" Roger asked coming out of the bathroom.

"Me and Allie together." she smiled leaning on the counter on her elbows.

"Oh geez. The day Benny brought Allie home seemed to be the day Callie found her long lost twin." he laughed looking over at them.

"Yeah, we always did know how to make our men crazy." she laughed looking up at him.

"Yeah well, it was nice to see you like that. I mean, you were always close to Maureen, but I don't know, something with you and Allie clicked. It was nice to see you like that with someone. And she knew how to defend you." he smiled wrapping his arms around her waist and rubbing her flat belly.

"Yeah, she always was a shark when it came to that, wasn't she?" she laughed looking over at her.

"From what I see, she still is." Serena smiled looking over at her.

"Serena, Roger and I wanted to talk to you and Mark about something serious." Callie said looking over at her.

"What's the matter sweetie?" she asked looking over at her.

"Um... we were thinking. We're not gonna be able to be around forever and when we do go, we're gonna need someone to be our baby's guardians. We want to pick you and Mark." Callie smiled looking over at her.

"You want us to be your baby's guardian?" Serena asked sitting up straight.

"Yeah, I mean, you and Mark are gonna get married one day and we're all gonna be living here anyway, so it would be easier for you guys to be the guardian. Plus, we love you guys. Mark's like a brother to us and you're becoming like a sister. I mean, we just met a month ago, but I think we're getting close. And we're a close family Serena. There's no one else we would rather choose." she smiled looking over at her.

"I can't speak for Mark, but I'd be honored to." she smiled looking over at her as tears filled her eyes.

"I second that." Mark called out from the bedroom doorway.

"Mark, we wanted to talk to you guys together, but you know me. I couldn't wait." Callie said looking over at him.

"I'd be insulted if you didn't ask us. Cal, you know I would do anything for you two. You guys are my family." he smiled walking toward them.

"I know honey." Callie smiled rushing over to hug him. "I love you Marky." she smiled looking over at him.

"I love you too Cal." he smiled kissing her head before smiling over at Serena.

"Now that that's settled, does anyone want breakfast?" Callie laughed looking over at them.

"Oh God, no." Mark groaned looking at her before laughing.

"A little hung over my sweet?" she asked looking over at him.

"Just a bit. I will take some coffee though." he smiled looking over at her.

"And some of these Baby?" Serena asked holding the bottle of aspirin up.

"Oh yeah. I'm getting too old for this shit." Mark smiled running his hands through his hair.

"Oh my poor boys. How on earth are you gonna be able to handle a baby up and down all night?" Callie laughed going into the kitchen to pour coffee for everyone.

"We'll be fine with the baby. It's Collins we can't handle." Roger laughed wrapping his arms around her waist.

"He is quite a handful, isn't he?" she laughed looking up at him.

"Oh yeah. You can say that." Roger smiled leaning down to kiss her head before taking 2 cups of coffee off the counter. One for him and he handed Serena the other one.

"Oh thank you, thank you, thank you. You are a savior." she smiled picking up the cup and blowing on the coffee before taking a sip.

"So, what are your plans today?" Mark asked as Serena handed him his cup.

"I have to go back to the dress shop and have them take my dress out a bit." she smiled looking over at them as she drank her orange juice.

"Mmm, don't you still need shoes?" Serena asked looking over at her.

"Yeah, but I don't want to do that without Allie. I know she must have something specific in mind." Callie smiled looking over at her.

"Something in a glass slipper perhaps?" she asked laughing.

"Most likely, yeah." Callie smiled looking over at her.

"Oh leave her alone. Allie just wants things to be perfect. You can't fault her for that." Roger smiled leaning down to kiss her head.

"I don't fault her for that Baby. But I just don't see why the Cinderella wedding is so important to the two of you." she said looking up at him.

"It's important because we love you and want you to have the perfect wedding." he said looking down at her.

"Roger, the wedding doesn't matter. It's the marriage that counts." she said looking up at him.

"Well we know we're gonna have a great marriage, so all there is to work on is the wedding." he smiled wrapping his arms around her and turning her toward him.

"Yeah, you try going shopping with Allie and trying on that bulky dress every week." she laughed looking up at him.

"I get to go with Collins to have my tux altered every week. He's just as bad." he laughed looking down at her.

"Yeah, he can be pretty bad, huh?" Callie laughed looking up at him.

"He can be worse than Allie sometimes." he laughed leaning down to kiss her.

"Ooh, minty fresh. Much better." she laughed kissing him again.

"I think I'm gonna be sick." Mark called out rushing to the bathroom.

"Mark, that was rude." Serena called out after him.

"No, I really think he's gonna be sick." Mark said looking over at her.

"Poor Mark. I'm gonna go see if he's OK." Serena said getting up going to the bathroom.

"OK sweetie." Callie smiled looking up at Roger. "I guess Marky wasn't kidding. You guys are really getting too old for this shit." she laughed looking up at him.

"You can say that." he laughed holding her to him before kissing her head again. "But we're just the right age for this little one right here." he smiled caressing her belly.

"We're having a baby." she looked up at him smiling from ear to ear.

"Yeah Baby, we are." he smiled leaning down to kiss her.

"So how hung over were they this morning?" Allison asked looking over at Callie as she watched over the seamstress.

"They were really hung over. Poor Mark was sick this morning. I think they realize that they're getting too old to be going shot for shot with Collins until the wee hours. You would think they'd learn by now that no one can keep up with him." she laughed looking over at her.

"Yeah really. They've been trying for years to keep up with him and all they get is a bad hang over the next day." she laughed looking over at her.

"Yeah, well, they'll live. Ow, watch it. They're attached." she complained looking over at the seamstress.

"Sorry Miss Stevens. This fit fine last week." she said doing her work.

"Yeah, a little unplanned growth." she smiled looking down at her belly.

"Congratulations." she smiled looking over at her.

"Thanks. I just need this taken out like a half a cup size." she smiled looking over at her.

"Maybe a whole cup. Sweetie, you're not getting married for 2 weeks. A lot can happen in that time." Allison said looking over at her.

"How about I put in some elastic, so you have room to grow." the seamstress smiled at her.

"Great idea. See Al, it's all under control now." Callie smiled looking over at her.

"I just want everything to be..." she started when Callie cut her off.

"Sweetie, it is perfect. I promise." she smiled looking over at her as the seamstress continued her work.

"You can't be serious Al." Callie laughed looking over at her.

"These are beautiful shoes." she smiled holding them up to her.

"Sweetie, they look like glass slippers." she laughed taking on in her hand.

"They're perfect. They'd go great with your dress." she smiled looking over at her.

"Allie, they look like glass slippers. Don't you think you're taking this princess theme a little too far?" she asked looking down at the shoes in disbelief.

"Honey, you only get married once. So why not do it right?" she smiled looking over at her. "Now, try these on." she smiled looking over at her.

"You know Allie, I like that you want everything to be perfect for me and Roger. You've always been a really good friend to me." she smiled looking over at her.

"You're like the sister I never had Cal. You understood what it was like to have parents who were too preoccupied with their own lives to deal with us. You made me feel less alone. When I first got with Benny, you took me in and you gave me a family. A real one. I just want to be able to give you and Roger everything you deserve." she smiled looking over at her.

"You already have sweetie. You're my best friend and you love us. That's all that matters." she smiled looking over at her as she tried on the shoes.


	10. Chapter 10

"2 more days and then you'll be Mrs. Roger Davis." Roger smiled looking down at Callie as they lay in bed together.

"Why can't I be Mrs. Callista Davis, huh?" she asked rolling over onto her side.

"You will be Mrs. Callista Davis. I just meant... um..." he stuttered looking down at her.

"It's OK. I know what you meant. I've been wanting to be Mrs. Roger Davis for a very long time. And anyway, once the baby's born, we're gonna be his or her parents." she laughed looking down at her belly before caressing it.

"That's OK. I can't wait to be a father. Especially to our child." he smiled leaning in to kiss her before reaching out to caress her flat belly.

"Uh Roger, how did this happen?" she asked rolling back over onto her back tilting her head towards him.

"How did what happen Baby?" he asked looking over at her confused.

"This. Us getting our old life back. Just when I thought that chapter was over and we would never get it back. Here we are. Together again and better than we were before." she smiled looking over at him.

"We're each others destiny Cal. We always have been." he smiled leaning over to kiss her again.

"And we always will be." she smiled raising her hand to run her fingers through his hair as she kissed him harder.

"Baby, I love you." Roger smiled looking down at her.

"I know. I love you too Roger." she smiled kissing him again before they began to make love.

"Cal, come on. We gotta go." Allison called out as she entered the loft.

"Why didn't we take her key away?" Callie asked looking up at Roger as they lay in bed in each others arms.

"Because you wanted her to have one." he laughed leaning down to kiss her head.

"There you are. You're not even up? We have to go for your final fitting." Allison said standing in the doorway of their bedroom.

"Good morning to you too Allie." Roger laughed looking up at her.

"Yeah, yeah. Come one Callie. We have to go. At the rate that your boobs have been growing, I'm so glad the seamstress suggested we put elastic in the bodace of the dress. It would be a shame to keep cutting it." she said with her hand on her hip in the doorway.

"I can't help it. That's just the way my body is these days." she smiled getting out of bed.

"Yeah well, you're not even showing yet and your boobs are big enough to be on Howard Stern." Allison laughed as Callie looked over at her.

"Oh, they're not that big, right Roger?" Callie laughed looking over at her.

"I'm staying out of this. I gotta go with the guys and pick up my tux. You ladies, have fun." he smiled kissing Callie's head before leaving to go into the shower.

"Chicken." Callie yelled laughing as he left the room.

"Yep." he laughed closing the bathroom door.

"Come on. You gotta get dressed." Allison smiled looking over at her.

"OK. I'll be out in a minute. Did you have your final fitting for your Maid of Honor dress?" she asked looking over at her.

"Yeah, I'm all done. It's you I'm worrying about. You're gonna be the center of attention, you have to look perfect." she smiled as Callie got dressed.

"Allie, my dress is gonna fit me perfectly. Roger's gonna look great in his tux and the wedding is gonna go off without a hitch." she smiled looking over at her.

"I know sweetie. When does Tina and Ray get in?" she asked sitting on the bed.

"Tonight at 7. She said her dress is fine and Ray looks great in his tux. Oh and she really appreciates you sending you those swatches so her dress and Ray's tie and cumber bun are perfectly matched." she smiled slipping her pants on.

"Well, we can't have them not matching everyone else." she smiled as Callie tie her sneakers.

"Yeah, Tina wants everything to be perfect. I swear between the two of you, this wedding is gonna outdo Princess Diana's." she laughed getting up from the bed.

"Well you and Roger deserve the best." Allison smiled looking over at her as they left the bedroom.

"We have it Allie. Don't worry about it." she smiled hugging her as Roger came out of the bathroom. He was wearing nothing but a towel and he was still dripping from his shower.

"I thought you guys were gone. Um... I'm sorry." he said rushing to their room.

"Wow. Maureen was right. Roger is sexy when he first comes out of the shower." Allison laughed looking over at her.

"Allie. He's gonna be my husband tomorrow." Callie laughed looking over at her.

"What? I've never seen Roger all dripping wet like that." Allison smiled looking over at her.

"On that note, we have to go." she laughed looking over at her.

"Bye Roger." Allison called out laughing as Callie held her arm.

"Come on. Bye Baby." Callie laughed dragging her out of the loft. "You're pregnant Al. With Benny's kid." she laughed as the women walked down the stairs.

"Yeah well, I'm not dead. No wonder you got pregnant even though you use condoms. You must have to jump that every chance you get." she laughed looking up at her.

"You are impossible." she laughed as they left the building.

"It's not my fault your husband is hot." Allison laughed putting her arm around Callie.

"I can't wait until tomorrow when he actually is my husband." she smiled looking over at her.

"Neither can we sweetie." she smiled as the women got into Allison's car and drove towards the dress shop.

"OK Marky, you sit down. I wanna play with the camera now." Callie laughed taking Mark's camera from him.

"You don't play with it Cal. It's not a toy. It's a very delicate piece of machinery." he said looking over at her.

"Oh stop. Go sit down by your girlfriend. I wanna film now." she laughed pointing the camera at everyone.

"Be careful with that." he told her before sitting on the couch with Serena.

"Don't worry Marky. I know what I'm doing. I've been watching you my whole life." she laughed looking over at him pointing the camera at Roger. "Hey Baby. You're gonna be a married man tomorrow. Are you freaking out yet?" she laughed filming him.

"Nope. I'm calmer than I've ever been in my life." he smiled looking up at her.

"Good. So am I." she smiled looking down at him before turning around and filming everyone else. "And there's Tina and Ray who just got in from LA today. What was it like riding in the car with Roger and Collins?" she laughed looking over at them.

"It was an adventure. Roger dodging cabs left and right and Collins yelling at him. They were like an old married couple." Tina laughed looking over at her.

"But it was fun. We missed riding with Roger. New York is crazier than LA." Ray laughed looking over at her.

"Yeah, my maniac husband to be." she laughed looking back at Roger, but still pointing the camera at Ray and Tina.

"I thought you liked my driving?" he asked coming up behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist.

"I do. But when the baby comes, he is not riding with you." she laughed looking up at him.

"No way Baby. I'm gonna drive like my grandmother when the baby is in the car." he laughed leaning down to kiss her neck.

"God I hope not. I want our baby to know how cool his daddy is." she smiled turning around to wrap her arms around his neck, still holding the camera in her hand.

"Can you be careful with the camera, please?" Mark said getting up from the couch.

"Mark, I'm fine. I'm not gonna drop the camera. Geez, you're freaking out." she laughed looking over at him.

"I'm just worried about the camera. You don't have a great track record when it comes to my cameras." he laughed as she let go of Roger and turned the camera on him.

"Mark Cohen, film maker extraordinaire. Best man at my wedding and more protective of his camera than most people are with their children." Callie laughed as Mark stood in front of her with is hands on his hips.

"You're not funny Cal." he smiled looking over at her.

"Oh come on Marky. You know you always thought I was funny. Lighten up. It's a party and tomorrow you get to marry off your 2 best friends." she smiled lowering the camera and hugging him.

"I am lightened up. I just know how you get with my camera when you're wrapped up in flirting with Roger." he smiled taking the camera from her.

"That was one time and I was wearing heels." she argued looking over at him.

"Twice and you if you weren't twirling around and getting all goo goo because Roger grinned at you, you wouldn't have dropped them." he looked over at her, filming her.

"Oh right. Sorry honey. I'm gonna go make sure my stuff is all together so I can stay with Allie tonight." she smiled looking up at Roger before going into their room.

"I'm gonna go help her." he smiled following her.

"And there they go. This could take a while." Maureen laughed looking over at the bedroom door.

"Isn't that how you two got knocked up to begin with?" Serena called out as their bedroom door closed.

"I like it. I've never seen her so happy. And they're having a baby? This is really great. I'm so happy for them." Tina smiled looking up at her.

"Yeah, it is pretty amazing, huh? I mean, they have been through so much and they're finally getting what they deserve." Allison smiled looking up at Benny caressing her 8 months pregnant belly.

"Roger, everyone's out in the living room." Callie called out laughing as Roger swept her into his arms.

"I know. I just wanted to hold my fiance one more time before I had to spend the night without her so she can become my wife." he smiled leaning down to kiss her.

"Can you believe it? This time tomorrow we're gonna be husband and wife. Finally." she smiled looking up at him.

"Baby, I can't wait. I've been dreaming about this for so long, I was sure that it was destined to stay right there. In my dreams. But here we are. The night before our wedding and about to have a baby. My dreams don't even compare to reality." he smiled looking down into her blue eyes.

"Roger, I feel the same way." she smiled leaning up to kiss him.

"Why don't you send Allie and the girls home and you can meet them there? There's someplace I wanna take you." he smiled looking down at her.

"OK. But remember, I have to be back by midnight. You know how superstitious Allie is." she laughed looking up at him.

"No problem Baby. You will be." he smiled kissing her again before they went into the living room to send everyone home.

"Where are we going Roger?" Callie asked looking over at Roger as they walked through the village.

"You'll see." he smiled holding her hand tight.

"Oh my God. Roger, we haven't been here in ages." Callie smiled looking around seeing where he was taking her. It was one of the special places he used to take her so they could be alone.

"I figured it was the perfect place. I figured at home it's always us and everyone else. And now with the baby coming. We're gonna be alone a lot less. Here, we can be just us." he smiled holding her in his arms as they looked up to the sky.

"Mimi and Angel are looking down on us, aren't they?" she asked looking up.

"Yeah, I think that's a pretty safe bet." he smiled leaning down to kiss her head as they looked up at the stars.


	11. Chapter 11

"Callie, are you up?" Allison asked knocking on the guest bedroom door.

"Yeah Al, come on in." she smiled looking up from her ring.

"What are you doin'?" she asked smiling.

"Just thinking about things." she smiled looking up at her. "Can you believe Roger and I are getting married today and I'm pregnant?" she smiled looking over at her.

"I know, it's the greatest thing that could ever happen to us." she smiled sitting on the bed.

"Allie, can I ask you something?" she asked moving the blankets from her legs to get out of the bed.

"Sure sweetie. Anything." she asked looking over at her.

"How come you guys didn't come to LA to find me? Before Roger came?" she asked looking over at her.

"Truth?" Allison asked looking over at her.

"Yeah. Truth." Callie said looking over at her.

"I wanted to so badly, but Benny kept saying that with Roger the way he was, you didn't need to see him like that. He was afraid if we went after you, that we would definitely never see you again. He knew you needed time and with Roger the way he was, he needed to get rid of the guy he turned into. He had to get your Roger back before you would even want to come back. He thought if we pushed you, you would have gone somewhere else and we would lose you forever. Roger had to become your Roger again for you to truly be ready to come home. And he was right. As much as it pisses me off, he was right. I missed you so much. I refused to go back to the loft. When me and Benny got married, that was the last time I saw anyone. It was too hard to see them without you. I didn't know what I was gonna do without you. I wanted to elope, but the only reason why we had a big wedding was because my parents made me. I didn't want to get married without you. You were always my only choice for Maid of Honor. But since my parents were making me have the big wedding, I picked Maureen. Then Benny and my father got really close and that screwed up everything. In a way, I was glad. I didn't want to be reminded of the way things used to be." she said looking over at her.

"I'm so sorry Allie. I shouldn't have cut all of you guys off. I was just scared that Roger was gonna die and I didn't want to know. I couldn't handle knowing. I always hoped I would see him somewhere. On a talk show promoting an album, or at a CD signing or something. But I was afraid he was dead." she said looking over at her holding back tears.

"But he wasn't. He was trying to become your Roger again. After the wedding, I didn't see him for a while. Maybe 3 years. After Mimi died, he came over to apologize for everything and to tell me how much he still loves you and that he wanted to get you back. I told him that maybe it was a mistake. I figured you moved on and wouldn't appreciate Roger barging back into your life. But he knew you wouldn't have. He knew you were each others destiny. He knew you still loved him. I don't know how, but he knew. It's like he could feel it or something." she said looking over at her.

"He knows me. Whether we're apart for 7 days or 7 years, he knows me." she smiled putting her arm around Allison's shoulder.

"And now you're getting everything you two have been wanting your whole lives." she smiled looking over at her.

"We owe it all to you Allie." she smiled looking over at her.

"How do you figure? You and Roger are destined to be together." she asked looking over at her.

"But you found me for him. You gave me another chance with Roger and this baby a chance to be born. You did that for us." she smiled looking over at her.

"I only found you because I didn't want my baby not to come into a world where Aunt Callie and Uncle Roger weren't together." she said looking over at her.

"Well for whatever reason, thanks. I love you." she smiled leaning over to hug her.

"I love you too Cal." Allison smiled looking over at her. "Now, let's get you ready. There's a lot to do so you and Roger can get married." she smiled looking over at her.

"OK. I can't wait." she smiled looking over at her before they got up and left the bedroom.

"Good morning bride to be. Breakfast is served. We have steak and eggs, pancakes, waffles, toast, sausages, bacon, and orange juice. Your meds are right here. It says here you're supposed to take it with a meal. So dig in." Maureen smiled looking over at her as she entered the kitchen.

"You made all this?" she asked looking over at her.

"Yeah, we figured a girl needs a good breakfast before she goes off and marries the love of her life, right?" she asked looking over at her.

"You guys are so great. Thank you so much." Callie smiled walking into the kitchen with Allison at her side.

"Well you don't get married everyday, right?" Joanna smiled looking over at her.

"Right." she smiled sitting down at the kitchen table and the women ate the breakfast feast.

"Sweetie, you look beautiful." Allison smiled playing with the veil as they stood in the bridal room of the church.

"I can't believe I'm about to get married." she said looking at herself in the mirror. Her dress was long and it was off the shoulders. I was fitted at the bodace and flared out at the waist as it flowed to the floor. The back went on for another 2 feet. Her veil hung down to her waist and the crown headpiece went around her hair that was up and in curls. Her make up was simple, but beautiful. She wore a white choker with a celtic love knot hanging from it.

"Well believe it sweetheart." a voice told her smiling from the doorway. When they turned around it was an older woman who looked just like Callie.

"Mom?" she called out looking up in disbelief. It had been 13 years since she had seen her, but it was unmistakable who it was. "Um... what are you doing here? How did you know?" she asked looking back at her with tears in her eyes.

"Roger called us. He wanted to surprise you for your wedding day. Your father and the Davis' are here too. You look incredible sweetheart. More beautiful than I could have ever imagined you would be." Mrs. Stevens smiled looking over at her as she entered the room more.

"Mom, I'm so sorry we ran away. I'm sorry we never called you." she told her trying not to cry.

"I knew you were in good hands with Roger. I'm sure he was better at taking care of you then we were. He was always there for you. We were always working and trying to get ahead. We made a lot of mistakes. We're so sorry sweetheart." she apologized holding her daughter in her arms.

"Mom, Roger and I are HIV positive and we're having a baby." she confessed looking over at her.

"I know sweetheart. Roger told us everything. I'm so sorry." she said looking into her daughters eyes. "But it looks like you're taking care of each other and you're taking care of this baby already. Roger told us that you're taking medication to help your baby be negative. That's just like you two. Taking care of each other and your baby. I always knew you two would make great parents one day. And look. Your baby isn't even born yet and you're already taking care of it. This is one lucky baby." she smiled looking down at her daughters belly.

"We tried taking care of each other. We tried so hard. So much happened back then mom. I'm sorry I never came to you and daddy. I'm sorry I ran away and never told you I was OK." she looked into her mothers blue eyes.

"We knew you were OK. We knew you were with Roger. We knew he would never let anything happen to you." she said looking over at her caressing her cheek.

"I ran away from Roger too mom. I needed to find out who I was, but I knew who I was all along. I was Roger's girl. I was always meant to be Roger's girl. Since I was little." she said looking over at her.

"You and Roger were always destined to be together sweetheart. And now you're getting married and everything is gonna be fine. Now, you need to get cleaned up and ready to marry Roger. This has been a long time coming." she smiled looking over at Allison.

"Mom, this is my best friend Allie. She helped get me and Roger back together. Maureen and everybody else should be outside waiting for us." she smiled looking up at Allison wiping her eyes.

"I met everyone. You found yourself quite a family, didn't you?" she asked smiling at her.

"Yeah, I guess I did. Did you see Mark and Collins here too?" she asked looking over at her.

"Yes sweetheart, I did. They look wonderful. I'm glad the boys have been taking care of you." she smiled looking over at her.

"They always did mom." she smiled looking over at her.

"I know sweetheart. Now, you need to get ready to get married." she smiled looking over at her.

"OK Mom. I'll be out in a minute." she smiled looking over at her.

"OK sweetheart." she smiled walking to the door.

"Oh, um... mom." she called out looking back at her mother.

"Yes sweetheart." she asked smiling back at her.

"Can you send daddy in? I want to ask him something." she asked looking over at her.

"Sure sweetheart, but you have to hurry. I think that Maureen girl is about to have a nervous breakdown." she smiled looking over at her.

"Yeah, that's Maureen." Allison laughed looking over at her.

"Gotta love Maureen." Callie laughed looking over at Allison before directing her attention back to her mother.

"I'll get your father. I love you sweetheart." she smiled looking over at her.

"I love you too mom." she smiled before letting her mother leave the room to get her father.

"Looks like this is gonna be more of a magical day than we thought." Allison smiled looking over at her.

"I can't believe Roger did this." she smiled looking up at her.

"Well it is your wedding day sweetie." Allison smiled looking over at her.

"It's the greatest surprise he ever could have given me." she smiled looking up at her.

"You're not mad?" she asked looking over at her.

"Are you kidding? It saved me from having to have that conversation with them." she laughed looking over at her.

"You look exactly as I pictured you looking when you and Roger got married." Mr. Stevens smiled from the doorway.

"Daddy." she called out rushing to the door. Her dress flowed with every movement.

"I missed you so much my sweet girl." he smiled looking over at her.

"I missed you too daddy. Me and Roger are getting married and we're having a baby." she smiled looking up at him.

"I know angel. I'm so proud of you. You're finally getting everything you've been wanting since you were 11 years old." he laughed looking down at her.

"I'm so glad Roger called you. I would have but..." she started when he cut her off.

"Callista, I understand. You and Roger have been through so much. You were afraid to. But everything is OK now. We're here." he smiled looking down at her.

"I'm glad you're here daddy. I'm so sorry. For everything. For running away with Roger when I was 17 and... well everything that followed." she said looking up at him.

"It's OK Callista. We're here now and all is forgotten. We always knew Roger would take care of you. But you never did well when you were away from each other." he smiled looking down at her.

"Yeah, I guess we had to find out the hard way, huh?" she asked looking up at him.

"I guess so. You should get yourself cleaned up. Roger can not wait to see his princess coming down the aisle towards him." he smiled looking over at her.

"How is he? Is he a wreck? I bet he's a wreck." she laughed looking up at him.

"Yeah, you can say that. He's been waiting a long time. I don't think he can wait much longer. Especially in that tuxedo. I think he's starting to go through denim and leather withdrawals." Mr. Stevens joked as Callie and Allie laughed with him.

"I think you might be right. Um... daddy, this is my best friend Allie. Al, this is my dad." she smiled introducing them.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Stevens. I've heard a lot about you. Me and Callie have been friends for a very long time." she smiled shaking the older mans hand.

"It's a pleasure to meet you too as well young lady. I take it the tall, dark and handsome one out there is yours?" he laughed looking down at her belly.

"How did you know?" she laughed looking up at him.

"Him and Roger are arguing over whose baby is gonna be the better looking one. I say it looks like it'll be a tie." he smiled looking down at her.

"Thank you Mr. Stevens." she smiled looking over at Callie.

"We should be getting ready. I'm getting married in 5 minutes." Callie smiled looking over at Allison.

"I'll be waiting for you girls outside, but you better hurry. There's a young woman named Maureen who is freaking out there." he laughed looking over at them.

"Well it wouldn't be Maureen if she wasn't." Callie laughed looking over at Allison.

"We'll be right out Mr. Stevens." Allison smiled looking over at Callie as the women finished getting ready.

"Well it's about time. I thought you changed your mind." Maureen called out as Callie and Allison exited the bridal room.

"How would I change my mind Maureen? I'm madly in love with him and I'm carrying his child. It's a little late for cold feet." Callie asked laughing.

"Well let's go." she smiled fixing her veil one more time before the music started.

"I'm sorry Collins, but would you mind...?" she started when he interrupted her.

"I'll go stand with Roger, Mark and Benny. Good luck Babygirl. I love you." Collins smiled leaning down to kiss her cheek tenderly.

"I love you too." she smiled looking up at him as he went into the church to stand beside the other men. The women each walked down the aisle alone. That's the way Callie wanted it. She wanted the boys to stand with Roger at the head of the church. As Allison walked down the aisle, Callie looked up at Mr. Stevens.

"I love you Callista. I'm so proud of you." he smiled looking over at her.

"Thank you daddy. I love you too." she smiled before they stepped into view of the church. Roger stared down the aisle in anticipation. Callie looked like a princess. Just as she was supposed to look. As she and Mr. Stevens walked down the aisle towards him, the tears began falling from his eyes. She looked more beautiful than he could have ever imagined.

"Roger, she looks so beautiful." Mark whispered leaning over to Roger.

"Yeah. Um... yeah she does." Roger whispered back still staring at Callie who was beaming.

"You hurt her, I'll kill you." Mark whispered putting his hand on Roger's shoulder.

"Don't worry Mark. I love her with all of my heart and soul. I won't hurt her." Roger reassured him before Callie stepped in front of him.

"Hey." she whispered through her own tears.

"Hey." Roger smiled looking down at her. They turned to face the priest. As the ceremony began the bohemians looked at one another and smiled. They were finally getting their happy ending.


	12. Chapter 12

"I can't believe you two finally did it. You're finally married." Maureen called out excitedly as they stood outside the church.

"I'm proud of you Maureen. You refrained yourself until we got outside the church." Callie laughed looking up at Roger as he clutched her hand tightly. "Are you OK Baby?" she asked looking into his eyes.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine Baby. I just hope this isn't another one of my dreams and if it is, Mark better not wake me up. Ever." he said looking down at her.

"Well if you are, then everyone else is dreaming too." she laughed looking up at him before leaning up to kiss him.

"I love you Cal." he smiled looking down at her.

"I love you too Roger." she smiled looking up at him.

"OK you two. It's time for pictures." Mrs. Davis smiled looking up at them.

"Sorry mom. I was just admiring my beautiful wife." he smiled looking down at her.

"You are gonna be nauseating, aren't you?" Benny asked standing next to him.

"Yeah, so. What of it?" Roger laughed looking over at him.

"Nothing man. Just making an observation." he laughed holding Allison's hand as everyone took pictures.

"Can you believe we really did it?" Callie asked looking up at him.

"Yeah Baby. I can believe it." he smiled leaning down to kiss her.

"Excuse me. Mr. And Mrs. Davis, look this way. Flashing lights." Mrs. Stevens laughed looking up at them as they all looked to the cameras for pictures.

"Good morning Mrs. Davis." Roger called out carrying a tray into the bedroom. It had eggs and bacon and toast with orange juice and her pills.

"What time is it Baby?" she asked looking up at him as she woke up.

"It's early. I wanted to make you breakfast in bed before you woke up." he smiled placing the tray on the corner of the bed.

"You are amazing Mr. Davis." she smiled sitting up before leaning over to kiss Roger tenderly on the lips.

"Well thank you Mrs. Davis." he smiled as she started eating her breakfast.

"So what's on the agenda today?" she asked between bites.

"Well, I have to go to the record company to get the itinerary for the tour and then I was thinking maybe we'd go out and do some baby furniture shopping. We're not gonna have time when we get back from the tour." he said sitting back against the wall next to her.

"But Roger, we don't even know if we're having a boy or a girl yet. How are we supposed to get baby furniture, not knowing?" she asked looking over at him.

"We'll just get wood colored and when we know, we'll get gender specific stuff. When we get back you'll be 8 months pregnant. We'll have plenty of time." he said looking over at her.

"How do you do that?" she asked smiling at him.

"Do what?" he asked picking up her fork and taking some of her eggs.

"Make me feel better. I'm freaking out and you're calm, cool and collected." she smiled looking over at him.

"Well, I'm a husband now. It's my job to fix things." he smiled looking down at her. "Now, take your meds. We have a lot to do today." he smiled using his fingers to pick up a piece of bacon and shoving it in his mouth.

"Yes dear." she laughed picking up her pill bottles.

"Mmm, you my love, are lucky I love you." he smiled leaning over to kiss her temple.

"I am kind of lucky, aren't I?" she smiled looking over at him.

"And this little guy is lucky to have a mommy like you." he smiled reaching down to caress her belly.

"Yeah, this little guy might be a little girl." she laughed looking up at him.

"Well, I was thinking about names for the baby, and if it's a boy, I want to name him Liam, after my grandfather." he smiled looking over at her.

"I like that name. And if it's a girl, how about we name her Gwendolyn after Gwendolyn Brooks, my favorite poet." she smiled looking over at her.

"Deal." he smiled leaning over to kiss her. "Now, take your meds. I'm gonna go clean this up." he smiled looking down at her.

"OK Baby." she smiled taking her pills as he took the tray off of the bed.

"Oh, um.. Cal." he called out running around to look at her.

"I know Roger. I love you too." she smiled looking up at him before taking her pills.

"Cal, get dressed. Allie's in labor." Roger called out rushing into the bedroom.

"What do you mean Allie's in labor? She's not due for another 2 weeks." she asked looking up at him.

"Well, little Benny seems to be taking after his daddy. Impatient." he laughed looking over at her.

"We have to get dressed. We have to go to the hospital." she called out getting up and rushing around the bedroom.

"Calm down Baby. She could be in labor for a while." he smiled looking over at her.

"I know, but Allie needs me there." she said looking over at him as she got dressed.

"Are you guys almost ready?" Serena asked rushing around the loft.

"Yeah, give us a minute." Callie called out getting dressed. "This is so exciting, right? We're gonna have a baby in the family." she asked looking up at Roger.

"Baby, we're pregnant too." he pointed out looking over at her.

"I know, but we're not due for another 4 and a half months. This baby is coming now." she smiled looking up at him getting dressed.

"Is anyone gonna wash these dishes?" Mark asked from the kitchen.

"Not now Mark." Callie and Roger yelled before directing their attention back to each other.

"Um.. OK then. Are we going?" Mark asked looking over at Serena who was laughing.

"Don't worry Marky. You only have 3 more weeks of this and then they're off on the tour." she smiled looking over at him.

"I hate when they do that." he laughed looking over at her.

"Yeah, good thing they're married." she smiled looking over at him.

"They've always been like that." he smiled walking over to her.

"I like it. I think it's cute." she smiled leaning over to kiss him.

"Are you we going? Let's go." Callie called out rushing out of hers and Roger's bedroom and going towards the door.

"I'm sorry about before. I'll clean up the breakfast dishes later." Roger smiled looking over at him.

"Come on Roger. We gotta go now." Callie yelled rushing down the stairs.

"It's OK Roger. You have a pregnant cross to bare." Mark laughed looking over at her.

"How is she?" Callie asked as they ran into the waiting room at the hospital. Benny was just getting a cup of coffee.

"She's fine. We just got here and they just hooked her up to the machines and stuff. She's 4 centimeters dilated, so they said it could be all day, or it could be a couple of hours. But she's asking for you. She made sure the doctor is gonna let you in whenever she needs you. I think he'd let Lucifer himself in. She scared the crap out of him." Benny laughed looking over at her.

"My poor Allie. I'm going in." Callie smiled looking up at Benny as she rushed to the rooms.

"And don't skimp on the ice chips. I'm having a baby, not liposuction." she heard coming from one of the rooms. She knew that could only be one person.

"Allie honey, I'm coming in. Hold your fire." Callie called out quietly before entering the room.

"Oh Callie, thank God you're here. I told Benny to call you, but you know how incompetent he can be." she said looking over at her.

"Calm down sweetie. Breathe." Callie smiled looking over at her.

"Sorry. OK. Um... I'm in labor." she said looking over at her.

"I know sweetie. Just relax, OK. Benny junior is gonna be here soon." she smiled sitting in the chair next to her bed.

"Not Benny junior. Oh God, not Benny junior. We decided to call him Ben." she smiled looking over at her.

"Well on that note, Roger and I decided on names for the baby." Callie smiled looking over at her.

"Really? Is it going for Gwendolyn?" she asked looking over at her.

"Yep, if I go with Liam after his grandfather." she smiled looking over at her.

"Liam, huh? I like that name better then Benjamin." she told her looking down at her belly.

"Don't even think about it Allison Rose Coffin. That name is ours." she laughed looking over at her.

"Sorry, I'm just not crazy about naming my son after Benny. Not after everything he's done." she said looking over at her.

"Sweetie, he's made up for it, hasn't he?" she asked looking over at her.

"Yeah, he has, it's just... I don't know, I just felt like after you left, everything fell apart. Roger was using, I couldn't go to the loft, Mark and Maureen broke up, and Benny started going to that damn club and started having an affair with Mimi. I hated her for so long that I didn't realize I should have been hating him. Then when she got with Roger, I wanted to keep hating her, but I couldn't. He wasn't supposed to be with anyone but you, but she needed him. And he needed her. She helped him get back to being your Roger." she said looking over at her.

"I thank her everyday for coming into his life." she smiled looking over at her.

"Me too. I just can't forgive Benny all the way. I still don't trust him." she said looking over at her.

"I know sweetie. Don't worry about that now. Now you have to have that baby." she smiled looking over at her as they sat back in the hospital room.

"He's amazing Benny. Wow, good thing he looks like Allie." Roger smiled looking down at the baby through the nursery window.

"Shut up Davis. If you don't think we're all hoping this baby looks like Callie, you're out of your mind." Benny laughed looking over at him.

"Yeah well, so am I. With a mama this beautiful, how could we not have the most beautiful child on the planet." he smiled wrapping his arms around Callie.

"Nope, I hope our baby looks just like you." Callie smiled leaning up to kiss Roger as everyone stared at the Coffin baby through the nursery window.


	13. Chapter 13

"Roger, would you stop doing that. You're making me nuts." Callie yelled looking up at him.

"I'm sorry Baby. I like feeling the baby kick." he smiled poking at her belly as the baby kicked back.

"I know, I just need you to get off of me for a little while. I'm already feeling like my body's not mine. I don't need everyone under the sun feeling my damn belly. Now I understand how poor Allie felt when we were always playing with her belly." she said getting up from the bed in the hotel room.

"Baby, I'm sorry. I know this is tough for you. I just like feeling our baby alive inside you." he said looking up at her seeing that she was frustrated.

"I'm sorry Roger. I shouldn't have yelled at you. It's just... between you, the guys, their pretty, young, skinny girlfriends. I feel like a cow." she said looking over at him.

"You're not a cow Cal. You're pregnant. You're carrying our baby. You are the most beautiful woman here." he said getting off of the bed to go to her.

"Yeah right. You see how those girls dress. They have their boobs hanging out and their flat bellies, showing off their butterfly or rose tramp stamp tattoos. Then you have me. I've grown out of your sweatpants and your t-shirts are starting to look like belly shirts on me. Roger, they used to be huge on me. Now, I can barely get them over my enormous breasts and my huge belly. How do you think that makes me feel? Having to stand next to them backstage every night mooning over the hot lead singer?" she asked looking up at him as tears fell from her eyes.

"Baby, I love you. I don't see how the other girls dress because you're my wife and you're the one carrying my child. They don't exist to me. You know that. You have no reason to feel anything other than on top of the world. Your husband is the lead singer of a headlining band and you're carrying our child." he smiled looking down at her before putting his arms around her to hold her close.

"I am on top of the world, but Roger. I used to be your sexy groupie. But I'm not anymore. I'm your fat, pregnant wife. I hear what the girls say about me when they don't think I'm listening. They say how I should be home in New York instead of being pregnant hopping around the country keeping an eye on you." she said looking up at him.

"Baby, you know that's not true, right?" he asked looking down at her.

"Of course I know that's not true. But I hate that they think that. They're like 16 years old. What the hell do they know about commitment or marriage? I'm just saying that maybe I shouldn't have come." she said walking away from him.

"Callie, you came because you wanted to and I wanted you to. We just got married, you're carrying my child and I don't want to be away from you. We were away from each other for 7 years and it was hell for us." he said looking over at her.

"But Roger, how practical is it for me to be traveling around the country with you? I shouldn't have come. I should have stayed home with everyone and prepared for the baby. They would have taken care of me. I think I could just go home. I'm getting too big to be following you guys around the country anyway." she told him walking over to the dresser.

"No, Cal come on. I think I'm taking care of you pretty well. The tour is over at the end of next week and then we'll go home together and get ready for the baby to come. You'll see Baby. Everything'll be OK." he said walking over to her.

"I think I should just go home now Baby. It just makes sense." she said looking up at him.

"Callie, I don't want you to go. Please Baby, don't go." he pleaded looking down at her.

"Roger, you're gonna be home at the end of next week. I'll see you then. It's not a big deal. I just think that me being 8 months pregnant on tour with my husband and his rock band is just not a good idea." she said looking up at him.

"Baby, you're the reason we're here. I formed the band to be your Roger again. We got the record deal because of that song I wrote for you. This is as much your band as it is mine. You may not be on stage with us, but you're in this band. Everything I do in this band is for you. Please don't leave Baby. Just stay until next week. And then we'll be home and we'll have our baby and everything is gonna be great. I promise." he said looking down at her.

"I'm not leaving you Roger. I could never do that again. I'm just going home. To the loft. To our loft." she said looking up at him.

"Just one more week Baby, please." he asked looking down at her.

"Roger, do you really think it's such a good idea? Me staying here for another week? Like this?" she asked looking up at him.

"Baby, it's one more week. I need you here. Um... but if you really want to go. I'll get you a ticket home." he said looking over at her.

"Why did you turn around so fast?" she asked looking over at him.

"I just remembered something I did to you years ago and I swore I would never do it again." he said walking away from her.

"What are you talking about Roger?" she asked looking over at him.

"Back before you left for LA the first time. You wanted to stay home and write, but I insisted that you come with me to the show. I needed you and I acted like what you were doing meant nothing. I swore to myself that I would never do that to you again. That I would put your needs ahead of mine. If you feel like you have to go home now, I'll book your flight and make sure Collins is there to pick you up and escort you home." he said looking down at her.

"Roger, this is not the same thing. Things were different back then." she said looking up at him.

"I know, but if you're uncomfortable with the traveling in your condition, I understand." he said wrapping his arms around her.

"I just think I should go home. I have a lot to do before the baby is born and I miss our bed." she said wrapping her arms around his waist.

"OK Baby. I'll call Collins right now and make sure he's available to pick up a fragile package." he smiled leaning down to kiss her.

"Thank you Roger. Um... can I leave tomorrow? I would really like to see tonight's show." she smiled looking up at him.

"OK Baby. I'd like that." he smiled holding her tight.

"Babygirl, you got so big. Wow. What was Roger feeding you on the road?" Collins asked looking down at her as she came off the plane.

"Shut up. I'm 8 months pregnant." she laughed hugging him.

"Did you guys find out the sex of the baby yet?" he asked looking over at her.

"No, we want to be surprised." she smiled looking over at him.

"Is the baby kicking yet?" he asked reaching out for her belly until she grabbed his arm.

"Don't even think about it Collins. I've been yelling at your buddy for almost 4 months for doing that." she said looking up at him.

"Yes ma'am." he laughed looking down at her.

"I'm sorry sweetie. I just understand now why Allie went so nuts when people used to touch her belly. A pregnant woman's belly becomes public domain." she said looking up at him.

"Gotcha Babygirl. Come on, let's get your bags and go home." he smiled looking down at her.

"Thank you sweetie." she smiled looking up at him as they went to the baggage claim and went home.

"Look at you. You got so big." Maureen called out rushing to the door.

"Gee thanks Maureen. You look like shit too." she laughed looking over at her.

"You know what I mean. You look incredible. Pregnancy agrees with you." she smiled hugging her.

"Do you know if it's a boy or a girl yet?" Joanne asked looking over at her.

"Not yet. We don't want to find out. We want to be surprised." she smiled looking over at them.

"You look great Cal. Really." Serena smiled looking over at her.

"So do you. And what is that on your left hand?" she asked grabbing her hand and looking at the small engagement ring on her finger.

"We're engaged. Mark asked me last month. We didn't want to tell you guys over the phone." she smiled looking over at her.

"That's amazing Serena. Congratulations." she smiled hugging her tight.

"Thanks Cal." she smiled looking over at her as Mark came in from the kitchen area.

"Hey Cal." Mark smiled approaching them.

"You are one smart man. I'm glad you listened to me about not letting Serena go." she smiled rushing over to hug him too.

"How could I let her go? I'm afraid if I do, you'll kick my ass." he laughed hugging her.

"You got that right. I'm so happy for you both." she smiled looking up at him.

"Thanks Cal. So what are you doing home so soon? You and Roger didn't get into a fight, did you? Am I gonna have to kick his ass?" he asked looking down at her.

"I was out of place. All the other women were skinny and dressed the way I used to dress, but I was fat and didn't fit in. And they didn't like me anyway. They actually thought I only went along to keep an eye on Roger. Like I have to worry about him with those girls. Please. He's always been my man. He doesn't even see those little bimbos." she told her struggling to sit on the couch as Collins and Mark rushed over to help her. 

"Easy Babygirl." Collins said holding her arm.

"I got it. I'm getting pretty good at this actually." she smiled looking up at him.

"Of course you don't have to keep an eye on Roger. You know you have nothing to worry about with him." Joanne smiled looking over at her.

"I know. They don't understand that we just got married and we didn't want to be away from each other." she said looking up at her.

"You look incredible Cal. You're really glowing." he smiled looking down at her.

"Yeah well, I guess pregnancy agrees with me." she smiled looking over at her.


	14. Chapter 14

"Are you guys ready? We gotta go." Callie called out coming out of hers and Roger's bedroom.

"We're coming. Geez, calm down Cal. Roger's plane doesn't get in for another hour." Serena smiled looking over at her.

"I can't wait that long. What if his plane gets in early? I don't want him waiting around for us." she smiled putting her bag over her shoulder.

"Don't worry Babygirl. I just called the airline and they said that his plane is on time." Collins smiled coming out of his room.

"I'm sorry guys. I'm excited and I haven't seen my husband in a week and a half." she smiled looking over at them.

"We understand sweetie. Let's go welcome your rock star husband home from his tour. He might have fans waiting for him." Serena smiled looking over at her.

"I know. It was weird. You have no idea. The girls would scream for him, just to touch their hand or something. They'd make posters for him telling him how much they love him. It was wild. I've never seen people react to him like that. Except me, of course." she laughed looking over at them.

"Well he's home now and he's all yours again." Serena smiled looking over at her.

"Yeah, then he can start helping me out of bed and making me breakfast and helping to get the baby's room in order." she laughed looking over at him.

"Yeah and he's gonna love every second of it too. Trust me Cal. He isn't gonna miss being a rock god at all." she laughed putting her arms around her shoulders.

"I know." she smiled looking over at her as they left for the airport.

"Roger." Callie called out as Roger came out of the terminal and rushed over to her. He dropped his bags when he got to her and wrapped his arms around her careful of her belly.

"Baby, I missed you so much." he smiled leaning down to kiss her before holding her tight.

"I missed you too. So did the baby. Whenever I couldn't get him calmed down, I'd put on your CD and he loved it." she smiled looking up at him.

"I missed him too. Hey there little one." he smiled leaning down to her belly. I missed you so much." he smiled kissing her belly.

"OK Roger. Now me again." she laughed taking his hand in her and bringing him up to kiss him.

"I am so glad to be home. I never want to be away from you for even a week ever again." he smiled kissing her over and over again.

"Roger, you belong on stage and now that you have an album out, you're gonna be recording another one and that's gonna require you to go on tour again. I'm not gonna like it either, but you're going. You deserve this." she smiled holding his face.

"Well, I just got home from this tour. Can we put off this conversation for a while? I wanna enjoy being with you now." he smiled leaning his forehead into hers.

"Deal." she smiled leaning in to kiss him again. "Come on. Let's go home." she smiled looking into his green eyes.

"You look even more amazing then you did last week." he smiled looking down at her.

"You don't look too bad yourself Baby." she smiled looking up at him.

"Hey Roger." Collins smiled looking over at him.

"Hey guys. Sorry, you know a week away from my wife and everything." he smiled holding Callie in his arms.

"Yeah we know Roger. It's great to have you home again." Serena smiled rushing over to hug her.

"It's great to be home." he smiled looking down at her hand. "Callie's been telling me how all of you are, but it looks like my wife failed to mention this. When did this happen?" he asked holding Selena's hand before looking down at Callie.

"I found out when I got home. I didn't think it was fair for you to be warned." she laughed looking up at him holding on to the back of his shirt.

"Congratulations." he smiled hugging Serena before going over to hug Mark.

"Thanks man. I figured, she loves me and all of you guys, so I should hang on to her." Mark laughed looking up at him.

"Good for you Mark. If you let her go, I'd have killed you." he laughed looking down at him.

"Yeah well, I just followed your lead. I know when I got a good thing." he smiled looking over at Serena.

"You got a great thing Mark. I'm really happy for you two." he smiled looking down at him.

"Come on Baby, let's get you home. There's a lot to do." Callie smiled looking up at him.

"I guess my rock god days are done." he laughed looking down at her.

"You can say that man." Collins laughed putting her his hand on his shoulder.

"Good. I had my fill on the road." Roger smiled wrapping his arm around Callie's back before leaning down to pick up his bags as they left the airport.

"So, what's the first thing you're gonna do when you get home?" Collins asked looking over at Roger as they walked to the car.

"I'm gonna lay down and take a nap with my wife in our bed." he smiled looking down at Callie who gave him a look. "Or not. What am I doing when I get home Baby?" he laughed looking down at her.

"You're going into that baby's room and helping to set it up. We saved all the fun stuff for you." she smiled patting his stomach. "Have you been working out?" she asked feeling his abs.

"Yeah, a little. Without my wife on tour with me, I've had a lot of time to go to the gym. What do you think?" he asked flexing his muscles.

"Nice. Too bad you came home to a fat pregnant wife." she said looking down at her belly.

"Hey, have you ever heard me complaining about this big beautiful belly of yours? You're carrying my baby Cal. You're the sexiest, most beautiful woman on the planet to me. I thought you knew that." he said looking down at her.

"I know. I just feel like a cow and here you are, coming home all muscular and stuff." she said looking up at him.

"Baby, you're having my baby. You have never been more beautiful." he smiled leaning down to kiss her head.

"Ugh, how do you always make me feel better about myself?" she smiled looking up at him.

"Because you know how beautiful I always thought you were and nothing could ever change that Callie. Actually, you are more beautiful now then you were when we were younger." smiled caressing her face.

"Um... thank you." she smiled looking up at him.

"No problem Baby. Anytime you need someone to talk you down from one of your self doubting tirades, just call me. I'm there." he smiled looking into her blue eyes.

"OK. Now, come on let's go home." Serena smiled looking over at them.

"OK Serena. Let's go Baby." Callie smiled looking over at her as they left the airport.

"Home sweet home." Roger smiled dropping his bags at the door.

"Nope. Put them in our room. I don't want anymore clutter by the door. There's been too much clutter there for too long." Callie said looking up at Roger as he looked over at Mark, Serena and Collins.

"Um... OK Baby. Sorry." he said leaning down to pick up his bags and put them in the bedroom.

"I'm just sick of the clutter. When the baby comes, we can't have clutter around here. He'll get into everything." she said looking over at him.

"You're right Baby. That makes sense." he said looking over at her.

"I'm sorry if I sound like a lunatic, but I just want this place to be safe for a baby. We're not used to having to take care of anyone else but ourselves. Now we're gonna have this innocent little life who can't take care of itself. We have to do it for him." he said looking over at him.

"You don't sound like a lunatic Cal. You sound like a good mother. I always knew you would be." he smiled looking down at her.

"Thank you for indulging me Baby." she smiled looking over at him.

"Any time Baby." he smiled going into the bedroom.

"So how do you feel? Having Roger home again?" Serena asked looking over at her.

"It feels great. I missed him so much." she said looking over at her.

"Cal, can I talk to you in here for a minute?" Roger asked peaking out the doorway.

"Sure Baby. I'll be right back." she smiled going into the bedroom. "What's up Baby?" she asked entering the bedroom.

"I just wanted to do this." he smiled looking down at her before sweeping her into his arms and kissing her long and hard.

"Roger, everyone's outside." she smiled looking up at him.

"I know. I just missed you so much." he said looking down into her blue eyes.

"I missed you too Baby. I missed your kisses, I missed your touch, I missed your smile, I missed your smell." she smiled looking up at him.

"Baby, I've been thinking about something. I want to find out what the sex of the baby is. I don't want to wait until the baby's born." he smiled caressing her face.

"Oh thank God. I wanted to find out too, but I thought you had your heart set on waiting until the baby's born." she laughed looking up at him.

"No, I thought you wanted to wait. I was going along with you." he laughed looking down at her.

"I wanna find out Roger. The suspense is killing me." she laughed looking up at him.

"Me too. We'll make an appointment tomorrow for another sonogram to find out." he smiled leaning down to kiss her.

"OK Baby." she smiled wrapping her arms around his neck and holding him tight.

"Welcome home Roger. We missed you." Allison smiled looking over at him as he held Ben in his arms.

"I missed everyone too. Especially this little guy here. He got big since the last time I saw him." he smiled as the baby slept in his arms.

"Yeah, he's sleeping through the night now and even Benny gets up with him now." she smiled looking over at Benny.

"What? I like spending time with my little man." he smiled looking down at her.

"And I've even babysat. I need the practice for when this little one comes." Callie smiled looking up at him.

"You're a natural Baby. You're gonna be great when our baby comes." he smiled leaning down to kiss her.

"Yeah well, it's not like I've been around that many babies before now. I needed to figure out how to change a diaper." she smiled looking up at him. "Oh man. Take it easy kiddo." she called out gripping her stomach.

"He's excited that daddy's home. Are you little one?" he asked placing his free hand on Callie's belly.

"What a coincidence? I'm excited daddy's home too." she smiled leaning up to kiss him before laying her head on his shoulder.


	15. Chapter 15

"What are we gonna tell everyone?" Callie asked looking up at Roger as they walked home from the clinic.

"We're gonna tell them what the doctor said. Why? You don't want to?" he asked looking down at her.

"No, I do. It's just. No one knew why we were going to the doctor and I just thought you might want to keep it between us." she said looking up at him.

"Are you kidding? I can't keep this secret." he laughed holding her hand tight.

"I kind of figured." she laughed looking up at him.

"Come on, I can't wait to tell everyone." he smiled looking down at her walking faster.

"Baby, I'm with child here. What makes you think I can waddle any faster than I was just walking." she laughed looking up at him.

"Sorry Baby, I'm just so excited." he smiled looking down at her.

"I'm pretty excited too, but I can't walk any faster than I am now." she smiled looking up at him.

"OK Baby. We'll get there in your time." he smiled lifting her hand to his lips and kissing it. When they got to the loft they walked in. Mark and Serena were sitting at the window seat and Collins was on the couch reading a book.

"Hey. How did it go at the doctor?" Collins smiled looking up at them.

"Great. Everything is right on schedule and the baby looks good." Callie smiled looking over at them.

"And it's a boy. Look." Roger blurted out taking the picture out from his pocket as Callie put her hands on her hips looking up at him.

"Seriously? You just throw it out there? Like that?" she laughed looking up at him with her hands on her hips.

"What? I couldn't resist." he laughed looking down at her.

"A boy? No way. Hey there Liam Davis." Collins laughed running over at them.

"Oh God, you had to start him off." Callie laughed as Collins rubbed her belly.

"Hey there my boy. I'm gonna corrupt you like crazy." he smiled kneeling in front of her.

"Why do I not doubt that?" Callie asked looking down at him.

"Because I am." he smiled standing up to hug her.

"Look at how beautiful he is. Oh my gosh." Serena smiled looking down at the picture.

"Babygirl, that's great. I'm so happy for you two." he smiled kissing her head.

"So are we sweetie." she smiled hugging him tight.

"OK, now this deserves a huge party. I'm gonna call everyone and we're gonna do it up." Roger smiled looking down at her.

"Um, not so fast big daddy. We have to get boy stuff for the baby now." she smiled looking up at him.

"More shopping? Baby, come on. We've been shopping since we found out you were pregnant." he whined looking down at her.

"Hey, I'm a girl and I want to shop for my little boy. I'm allowed." she laughed looking up at him.

"OK Baby. Serena, can you call everyone and set it up? Looks like I'm going shopping." he laughed looking over at Serena.

"Sure Roger. I can do that. Are we getting drunk tonight?" she asked looking over at him.

"Nope. I wanna remember every minute of this." he smiled looking over at her.

"Oh come on. I like watching you get drunk. You're fun." Callie whined looking up at him.

"I'm gonna be a dad Cal. I can't be sitting her getting drunk all the time. And besides, I just got home from tour. I wanna spend time with my wife." he smiled leaning down to kiss her.

"OK Baby." she smiled looking up at him before they left the loft to go shopping.

"I can't believe you guys are having a boy. I was thinking up nicknames for Gwendolyn." Maureen smiled drinking her wine.

"Sorry Maureen, but nature kind of gave us a choice." Callie smiled looking over at her.

"That's OK. Look how cute he looks. Look at his little..." she started when Roger reached over Callie to snatch the sonogram picture out of her hand.

"No one is looking at my sons thingy." he laughed looking over at her.

"Your son. I love the way that sounds." Callie smiled caressing her belly.

"Did the doctor schedule your c-section?" Joanne asked looking over at her.

"Yeah, in 2 weeks. He doesn't want me going to my due date and risking me going into labor." she smiled looking over at her.

"Wow. In 2 weeks we're gonna have a baby in the loft." Mark smiled looking over at them.

"Yep. And you know what that means, don't you?" she asked looking over at him.

"Sleepless nights." Serena smiled looking over at her.

"3 am feedings." Maureen laughed looking over at her.

"Walking the floor." Joanne added laughing.

"Constant crying." Collins laughed looking over at Roger.

"And then there's the baby." Callie joked laughing with everyone.

"It's gonna be great." Roger smiled looking over at her before kissing her head.

"Yeah, you say that now. Just wait until you can't get your usual 14 hours sleep." she laughed looking up at him.

"Sleep is overrated. I'll sleep when I'm dead." he smiled looking down at her.

"Yeah, I'll remember that at 5 in the morning when he hasn't slept and you're whining." Callie laughed looking up at him.

"Well that's when I'll call Uncle Mark." he laughed looking over at Mark.

"I'll do it." Mark laughed kissing Serena's head.


	16. Chapter 16

"So you have everything Baby?" Roger asked looking over at Callie as they rushed around the loft.

"Yeah, I think so. If not, you can bring stuff up when you visit me." she said looking around the bedroom before coming out.

"I'm not leaving you Cal. I'm gonna stay there the whole time you're there." he said looking over at her picking up his duffel bag.

"Roger, you have shows all weekend. You can't stay in the hospital with me." she laughed looking up at him.

"I told the record company to cancel any gigs they have for me for the next month. I wanna stay and help you with the baby." he said looking over at her.

"No Roger. You're gonna perform like you planned. You're not ditching your priorities." she said looking up at him.

"But Baby..." he started before she interrupted him.

"I have Mark and Serena here and they'll make sure I'm not alone. I'll be fine." she smiled taking his hand. "But I love that you want to do this." she smiled looking up at him.

"You're having my baby Cal. Of course I want to do this." he smiled taking her hand in his face and kissing her softly.

"We should go Baby. The doctor is waiting for us." she smiled looking up at him.

"Before noon, we're gonna be someone's parents Cal." he smiled looking down at her.

"I know Baby." she smiled wrapping her arms around his waist.

"What the hell is taking so long? It's after 10." Collins asked pacing the waiting room.

"Collins, calm down. Why don't you sit down? Roger will be out soon to let us know everything went OK and we're all aunts and uncles. Again." Serena said looking up at him.

"But what if everything isn't going OK? It shouldn't be taking this long to deliver a baby. You go in, take him out, you close up. They do it on the hospital shows all the time." he said looking over at her nervously.

"Collins, don't think that way. Cal's fine. And if this kid is anything like his parents, he's the most stubborn SOB on the planet." Mark said looking up at him as Roger rushed down the hall. He was smiling.

"Oh thank God." Allison smiled getting up from the seat as Benny moved Ben's carriage over so he could follow her.

"How are they?" Allison asked looking up at him.

"Good. Great. Oh my God Allie, she was perfect. She was joking around the whole time they were delivering him. She was so amazing." he laughed and cried at the same time.

"That's our Cal. When can we see them?" Collins asked looking over at him.

"Soon. Cal's gotta be in the recovery room for a few hours, but then we can go in. The baby is gonna be in the nursery soon. They just have to weigh him and check him out." he smiled with is arm around Allison.

"I knew she could do it. She is one tough bitch." Allison smiled up at him through her tears.

"My girl. She's tougher then me. I was freaking out and she was telling jokes. She tried convincing the doctors to give her a free tummy tuck while they were down there." he laughed holding Allison in his arms.

"Now that's my girl." Allison laughed looking up at him.

"Who does he look like? Please tell me he looks like Cal." Benny joked looking up at him.

"Yeah. He has her eyes and her hair. Her nose. But he has my chin. He's amazing. I can't wait until you can see him." he smiled looking up at him.

"We can't wait to see him either sweetie." Serena smiled looking up at him.

"Roger, you're here." Callie groaned smiling as she woke up in the recovery room.

"I told you I wasn't gonna leave you. How do you feel Baby?" he asked smiling up at her as he held her hand tight.

"Like someone cut me open and took a baby out of me. What happened?" she smiled looking down at her belly.

"Someone cut you open and took a baby out of you." he laughed lifting her hand to his lips to kiss it.

"Good thing then, huh?" she laughed a little holding her belly. "I see the doctor didn't give me the tummy tuck I ordered." she winced looking over at him.

"Sorry Baby. Our insurance doesn't cover that." he laughed looking up at her.

"How's the baby? When can I see him?" she asked trying to sit up as he got up to help her.

"Soon. Baby, you should relax a little longer." he said looking down at her concerned.

"Roger, I want to see my son. Either you bring him to me or I'm going to the nursery to see him. Either way, I'm seeing my son." she said looking up at him.

"OK Baby. Calm down. I'll go see when they're taking you to your room. Everyone's here and they can't wait to see you." he smiled leaning down to kiss the top of her head.

"Thank you Roger." she smiled looking up at him as she laid back in the bed and relaxed.

"Anything for my girl." he smiled looking down at her before leaving the room.

"Roger, he's perfect. Look at him." Callie smiled looking down at the baby in her arms.

"Yeah Baby, he is perfect. He looks just like his mommy." he smiled looking down at her as he sat next to her on the bed as everyone looked on happily.

"I love that he has his daddy's chin. Look at that little dimple." she smiled looking up at Roger.

"Thank you Baby." he smiled leaning in to kiss her.

"OK you two. You had a baby. You didn't walk on the moon. Let me see my boy." Collins smiled sitting at the foot of Callie's bed.

"You're gonna be trouble with him. I can tell." Callie smiled looking up at him.

"You think?" Roger muttered as she elbowed him in the stomach. "Ow, did you see that little man? Mommy's beating daddy up." he laughed looking over at the baby.

"That's OK little man. It's not the first time and it won't be the last. Daddy's a bad boy, a lot." Collins smiled looking down at the baby.

"Yeah, daddy's a bit of a handful. But I love him anyway." Callie smiled looking up at him.

"So, does he look like a Larson?" Allison asked looking over at her as Benny fed Ben in the corner.

"Yeah, but we haven't thought about a middle name yet." Callie said looking over at her.

"How about Cal? For his mommy." Roger suggested smiling down at her.

"Liam Cal Davis? Are you serious?" she asked looking back at him.

"Why not?" he asked looking down at her.

"I like it." she smiled looking up at him.

"Well he has my grandfather's name, I figured he should have something of his mother too." he smiled leaning down to kiss her.

"That is a very good idea Baby." she smiled lifting her hand up to caress his face.

"Look at him. He looks just like Callista did when she was born." Mrs. Stevens smiled looking down at the baby.

"That's what Roger says. But look mom, he has Roger's cute little butt chin." she laughed looking down at them.

"He's beautiful sweetie." Mrs. Stevens smiled looking down at her daughter and her grandson.

"Your grandfather would be so proud of you Roger. Naming him Liam." Mr. Davis smiled looking over at Roger as he stared down at his wife and son.

"Thanks dad." he smiled looking up at him.

"What about me? I'm the one who carried him and gave birth to him." Callie smiled looking over at them.

"We're sorry sweetie. You did a great job too." Mrs. Davis smiled leaning down to kiss Callie's head as Roger smiled at her.

"Yeah mom. She did an amazing job." Roger smiled looking over at Callie before looking down at Larson.


	17. Chapter 17

"We really need to install an elevator in this building." Callie complained as Roger helped her up the stairs and Serena carried the baby in his infant seat.

"We'll talk to Benny and Allie. You know all Allie needs to hear is that you need an elevator and Mr. Grey will be here the next day with a crew." Roger laughed looking down at her with his arms around her waist.

"Yeah, she's as big a shark as he is. I swear, he taught her right. I'm glad she's on our side." Callie laughed clutching her stomach.

"Are you OK Baby?" Roger asked concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just have to remember that each joke has consequences until I'm healed." she smiled looking up at him.

"Well that's what you get for being so witty." he smiled leaning down to kiss her head.

"Yeah, I'm finding that out. How's my boy up there Serena?" she called out looking up at Serena.

"Sleeping. I swear, he may be your mirror image, but he's his father's son through and through." she laughed looking down at him.

"Hopefully we have a sleeper." Callie smiled looking up at Roger.

"Your welcome Baby." he smiled helping her up the stairs.

"You think you're so cute, don't you?" she asked smiling up at him.

"You mean, I'm not?" he asked looking down at her as they approached the loft door.

"Oh no, you're cute. You're very cute." she smiled leaning up to kiss him as Serena opened the loft doors as everyone yelled surprise.

"Oh Jesus, you scared the hell out of us. Are you guys crazy? You could wake the baby." Roger called out looking down at the baby, who had started to stir, but quickly fell back to sleep.

"Are you kidding? He's a Davis. He'll only wake up to the sound of guitar playing or his own hunger. Like father, like son." Allison smiled looking down at Larson. "Gimme my Godson. I have to start spoiling him rotten." she smiled leaning into the infant seat.

"You better not Allie. I want him to be humble and appreciate everything he has." Callie smiled looking up at her as Roger helped her sit on the couch.

"What good is being an aunt if I can't spoil him?" she smiled looking down at Larson as he slept in her arms.

"Yeah well, you wanna spoil someone? Spoil me. I need an elevator in this place. You have no idea what a bitch it is to struggle up those steps after a c-section." she smiled looking up at her as Roger sat next to her with his arm wrapped around her shoulders.

"Don't worry Baby. I'll help you up the stairs when you need it. I don't mind wrapping my arms around you." he smiled leaning down to kiss her head.

"You two are gonna be even more sickening, aren't you?" Mark asked filming Allison holding Larson.

"Pretty much." Roger laughed looking up at him as Collins entered the loft.

"Collins. Where were you sweetie? I missed you." Callie smiled looking up at him.

"I was taking care of something." he smiled leaning down to kiss her head. "How do you feel Babygirl?" he asked looking down into her blue eyes.

"I'm fine, but don't get any ideas about me saying anything witty. It hurts to laugh." she smiled reaching up to caress his cheek. She could see he was concerned. "I'm really OK sweetie. I promise." she repeated looking into his deep brown eyes.

"I just worry about you Babygirl. You're the only woman I'll ever love." he smiled looking down at her.

"I know sweetie. I love you too." she smiled looking up at him.

"Let me see my boy." he smiled looking over at Allison as he slowly reached out for the baby. He looked just like Callie. "He is the most beautiful human being I've ever seen in my life." he smiled looking down at the baby.

"Well he does look like his mother." Roger smiled leaning over to kiss Callie's head.

"Are you OK Collins?" Callie asked looking up at him seeing tears in his eyes.

"Yeah. Yeah Babygirl. I'm OK. I just can't believe I'm looking down at yours and Roger's offspring. He truly is the next generation of this family." he smiled looking over at her.

"Yeah he is sweetie. This is truly a new beginning for all of us." she smiled looking up at him as she leaned into Roger's chest.


End file.
